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 Hard Water 
- and how to make it soft! 

  What is hard water?

 

  

Hard water is water that contains dissolved calcium and magnesium compounds that are picked up by rainwater as it percolates through chalk and limestone rocks. The hardness of the supply water to your home depends on where you live and where your water has originated.

You can find how hard your water from the drinking water inspectorate website by clicking here

limescale covering heating element in central heating boiler 

 
 

 

 

Limescale blocking up central heating pipes due to hard water

These minerals in hard water will settle out as an unsightly deposit of scale whenever the water is heated, or when cold standing water evaporates. This can cause a number of problems around the home:

 

  • Unsightly white marks, stains and scale on sinks, baths, toilet bowls and around the base of taps
  • Blocked shower heads
  • Clogging of pipework in central heating systems
  • Premature failure of water heaters, washing machines and dishwashers.
  • Water hardness also makes it difficult to get a good lather, so more soap is required for washing.
  • 'Water marks' can be left on dishes, glass and cars bodywork.
 
 

How do water Softeners Work? 

 

The only way to remove the hardness is to remove the calcium and magnesium ions that are in the water. This is where a water softener comes in. Hard water is passed through a cylinder containing millions of tiny beads of ion-exchange resin which 'trap' the minerals that cause hardness and exchanges them for sodium - resulting in soft water.

 

Eventually the beads become full of calcium and magnesium and so need to be 'regenerated' and this is done by washing the beads with a small amount of brine (common salt or sodium chloride dissolved in water). The sodium from the salt is left in the resin. The used brine, containing accumulated hardness, is automatically flushed into a drain. Refreshed by the regeneration, the resin is again ready to soften water.

  

 

 

  What are the main differences between softeners?

 

Number of cylinders

 

Softeners can have one or 2 cylinders of ion exchange resin. Having 2 means that when one cylinder is being regenerated the other can continue to provide soft water. With single cylinder softeners the soft water supply is interrupted during regeneration. Double cylinder machines tend to be more  compact and can therefore be sited under a kitchen sink.

 

Type of Valve

 

The most complex part of a softener is the mechanism that carries out the regeneration cycle of the ion exchange beads. There are main types:

 

Metered valves - these measure the amount of hard water that passes through the softener and then triggers and performs the regeneration cycle when needed. These are the most efficient type of valves.

 

Metered valve can be electrically operated or operate off the water pressure (as with the Crown Softener).

 

Clock Type Valves - these regenerate after a certain number of days. The customer has to estimate how much water they use. The downside of this is that regeneration can occur too early or too late - resulting in wasted salt or hard water entering the home water supply.

 

 

Our Recommendation...

Our advice is to buy a softener with a a metered valve (not timed), with two cylinders and using block salt. After surveying the available products we currently recommend the Crown Block Softener as the best product on the market taking into consideration value and features. Look here for more information.

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