Water softner

[jayluvit]

Hi all,
First post on here as I have not had much joy on other sites.
I live in a hard water area and I have a gravity fed system so 50 gallon tank in the loft.
I have a whirlpool bath and shower pump which are fed from this tank aswel as the toilet, both bath taps, the bathroom sink hot tap and the hot tap in the kitchen.
I would like to install some kind of softner that will treat the water before it enters the cold water storage tank which is in the loft so that I can reduce the amount of scale that enters the pump and whirlpool.
I have seen a couple in B&Q. 1 was a type that the 15mm pipe would be installed into device either end with a cannistor attached which would have to be changed every 12 months and another was a maintenance free type which was just like a cylinder where the pipe fits either end. Both of these makes are call Permutit.
Im not convinced that a maintenance free type is actually maintenance free as I am wondering how something is filtered with no filter and where would the limescale go if there was nothing to change?
I am not too concerned about my appliances in the kitchen which come direct off the mains as these can be protected with the likes of Calgon, Finish and water jug filters and also there is no location I can fit it in my kitchen where the mains water pipe enters the house.
Can anyone reccomend or know of a type of device I can use to do this job?
I have electrical power in the loft and can adjust pipework in the loft to install it.
Not on a budget so am prepared to pay good money for a decent product thats reliable.
Sorry for the long story and appreciate any advice.

 

[jayluvit]

Additional info:-
The canistor type is called Permutit Scale Inhibitor P-SI 15
The cylinder type is called Permutit Electrolytic In-Line Scale Combat (Push fit)
Many thanks.

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

if your not on a budget then do it porperly and get a water softener

These cost around £1100 and chemical soften the water

Changing the chemical compound to reduce hardness

its noramlly fitted under the kitchen sink and you cannot drink this water so kitcehn tap is usually left un softened

All other methods have varying effects on how well they work

Many mainteneance free ones are basically magnets

Others can still be maintenance free as lime scale is not filtered with them, they actually change the ions meaning that it does not stick to surfaces and flows freely down the plug hole

 

[MickBrown]

I live in a hard water area and I tried to find out about these electromagnetic type filters but couldn't find much information as to their effectiveness. I eventually went for a metered water softener similar to that sold in B&Q except I bought one online for about £400. I plumbed it in myself but you do need space of a 500mm kitchen unit. As Plumstar Tom says you fit it after the kitchen tap as you need one unsoftened tap for drinking water. Mine then feeds the dishwasher/washing machine and upstairs cold feeds and also the cold feed to the combi boiler for hot water. I use about 1 x 25Kg bag of salt every 6 months which costs around £7, I have to top it up about once a month. As mine is metered it only refreshes the machine after every so many liters of water have been used, you can get cheaper machines that refresh every so many days regardless of how much water has been used.
You could fit one in a loft but then you would only soften the feed to the hot water and not the cold so it the effect would be limited, you would also have to take the salt up there and top it up every so often.

 

[jayluvit]

Thank you Tom and Mick,
With regards to installing under the kitchen sink, I dont think this is an option for me due the pipe layout in my kitchen.
The mains water comes up the floor from one side of the kitchen then goes back underground and then pops up again on the other side of the door. This then branches off to the sink, outside tap and dishwasher. Where the branch off is it then travels up into the bathroom to feed the cold water bath sink tap before going into the loft via the airing cupboard.
I will try and post some pics of my kitchen before the units were installed so that you can see the layout of the pipework.
I think the only place I could install it would be the loft but as Mick states I dont want to be going in the loft carrying salt.
I think my best choice would be the cannistor or filter type option but will have to research a few products first.
Mick, what do you mean by only my hot water would be softened and not the cold? If Im installing in the loft into the pipework before the cold water storage tank then surely the water being fed into the tank would be soft aswell? The tank would then supply the hot water cylinder, shower pump, toilet cistern and bath taps. Am I missing something?
Anyway thanks for the replies. I am having trouble replying on my PC and am using the one at work so appologies if I dont reply back for a while but I can still read them.
Many thanks.