Archived on 6/5/2022

Mains water softener - any recommendations?

RachaelDunlop
5 Aug '16

Am thinking of getting a mains water softener installed. Do any forum members have one or know a company they can recommend?

armadillo
5 Aug '16

We used Harvey Water Softeners when we had ours installed a couple of years ago. They did a good job of fitting, especially since we wanted it installed in our half height basement that is a bit of a pain to work in without doing yourself some damage.

https://www.harveywatersofteners.co.uk

We’ve never had any problems with the softening unit itself, and the ongoing cost in salt (about 2 blocks every 3-4 weeks) is worth it to keep your taps and boiler shiny clean and without a trace of limescale in sight. The salt cost is somewhat offset by only needing to use about half as much detergent in your washing (clothes and dishes), and it does leave your skin feeling much less dried out after a shower.

It does taste bit funny though, so it’s worth keeping a tap on the hard water feed for drinking from and making ice. I also prefer to use the hardened supply for our cats drinking bowls and the fish tank as I’m not sure how good the additional salt content would be good for them.

Beige
5 Aug '16

Harvey Water Softeners… ug - they’re the ones who posted this official looking junk mail. They wouldn’t be getting my business.

Do you actually drink the softened water?

armadillo
5 Aug '16

Yes - I got one of those recently as well. All a bit cheeky really, but I can’t complain about the service we received at the time.

Yes, we drink the water, but only normally when used for making tea, coffee, squash and the like. For straight up drinking water, we always tend to draw from the remaining hard water tap.

RachaelDunlop
5 Aug '16

That’s the leaflet I got which immediately put me off!

We have a water and ice dispenser plumbed into our fridge and would want to keep that off the system as well as the kitchen tap, which might be tricky.

armadillo
6 Aug '16

That’s the same set up we have, although I was lucky enough to able to do the plumbing for the fridge myself.

aitch123
12 Mar '18

I know this thread was a couple of years ago, any further recommendations for local installers in or around FH?