Hello,Has anyone used water "softeners" like the one screwfix sell, part no.20315 or in conjunction with a sediment filter as part no. 72063 If so, what are your opinions?I put "softener" in quote because I am not sure whether they actuallysoften. I notice screwfix do not mention "softening" and choose thephrase "scale reduction" instead.We are in hard water area and getting bored of having to de scale thekettle! I also wonder what the inside of the washing machine must looklike but perhaps I have been made paranoid by those calgon adverts? ;)Do these make a big difference; are they worth it; and if so, is itworth paying more for the one with the sediment filter?I notice that in the same section screwfix sell "magnetic scalereducers" and "electronic scale reducers" which I thought were snakeoil? Perhaps you will tell me if I am wrong?

AIUI; 'hard' water has dissolved 'bit's in it that you can't see but deposit themselves on the insides of kettles / taps / irons / everywhere.I 'looked' at these 'We can't tell you why it works, but grease our palms with silver and we'll let you take one away with you' devices and basically couldn't comprehend what they were supposed to do nor get overwhelmed by a desire to part with hard-earned money.Eventually after much reading of the DIY groups webpages and reading the discussions, I purchased a 'proper' Resin cartridge cum Salt 'Water Softener'. It's brilliant! I can pretend to 'understand' how it works; put Salt IN and the nasty bits go OUT. No magnetic fields, pulsing or static, doing something 'magic' to the water .... just plain old Sodium IN, Calcium OUT.Astoundingly- everything that water comes into contact with; my little body, my hair, the bath, toilet, sink surfaces; handbasins, worktops, oven fascias, clothes, etc. etc. become easy to clean.No more rinse-aid, no...

water softeners?

Nov 01, 2007 26 Replies

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The Natural Philosopher 18 years ago

Its perfectly healthy to drink.

Unless you go for about 20 gallons a day, in which case your sodium level will be boosted as much as if you had eaten a bag of crisps.

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John Stumbles 18 years ago

Where does it say anything about ion exchange resin? I'm looking at:

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Andy Hall 18 years ago

As suspected, it's a polyphosphate dosing system. Scale reduction, yes. Softening, no.

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Fred 18 years ago

Sorry if I got the terminology incorrect? As you've already found out, the replacement cartridge says it contains phosphate so I assumed that the phosphate ions were exchanged with the sodium/chloride ones.

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Andy Hall 18 years ago

AIUI, there is some kind of coating effect on the heated surfaces that prevents scale from forming

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Fred 18 years ago

Does it really work?

If it had been ion exchange I would have believed in it but the phosphate coating of elements sounds to me much like magnetising the water molecule and all those other daft claims! I am happy to be proven wrong though.

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Andy Hall 18 years ago

That one is kosher and there is a known mechanism for it to work

Google for phosphate dosing descaling.

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