'Little Plumber' water softener

[Deleted member 2053]

Just had a client on the phone asking about the 'little plumber' water softener. This is a lady who believes all the fantastic claims that are made for herbal treatments so I am having some difficulty convincing her of my natural scepticism. Does anyone have any decent experince of these units?

 

[wheeto]

I can't see how they'll possibly work, but if someone's going to pay you to install one....

Although the installation looks more like wiring than plumbing!

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

im currently looking into these at the moment but am only at early stages of any sort of research

They do seem to work but their effect begins to fail after they exit the field and it seems it cannot be guaranteed how long the effect can stay until it wears off

But if someone wants it fitted i will do it no problem plus im sure they wont mind you coming back to see how it is getting on in a few months time

 

[Penged]

Hi All
I have one fitted in hard water area, they are great water is soft saves lods on washing powders soaps etc, lovely in a bath I have a drink water tap straight from mains, also don't need salt in dishwasher, highly recommend them.

 

[H2Ooh]

Under very specific circumstances they work to a small extent. Since they have no effect on the chemical composition of the water, most effect is in fact placebo. I am kind of reminded of xkcd: Dilution

I've seen a lot of these ripped out in favour of conventional resin based softeners. Testing water (try evaporating it or making a soap later) with water that's passed through one of these units vs the source water vs resin softened water might help you decide on the matter!

 

[Deleted member 2053]

Thanks to all for these replies. I am aware of the transitory effect that these things have but the house has instant water for everything so there is no storage. I have tried many things to protect combis in hard water areas and have come back to using the combimate as the only thing that really works. However it was worth asking for a concensus in case someone really had come up with a non-chemical system that worked. Will be interested to see later postings on your research Tom. Thanks for your input Penged. I think you are possibly misinformed about the need to drink from the mains - this pleasure is normally reserved only for those with resin softeners in order to stop especially the old and very young from having an increased intake of sodium.

Incidentally I was not being offered payment for installing one!

G

 

[Penged]

Sorry should have made it clear that's what I have, resin based, personally I don't mind the taste of softened water, but the wife doesn't.
And when you install them explain the parts per million, the age of who may drink from it, it's easier to just fit direct mains for drinking plus it keeps you within water reg's.
As for cost to install, depends were you are and ease of installition, could take anywhere from couple of hours to a full day.
All the best
Penged.