Re: [OT] Water Conditioners...

["Ewen Cameron" <ejc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The ones that rap wires around the pipes are not ment to work very
well.  They charge the particles (or something) in the water so that
it does not stick to pipes etc, however over time the charge is
lost.  So water sitting in a hot water tank will loose it's charge,
as will any water in the pipes.  On an industrial scale the process
can work very well when the water keeps flowing.  We fitted on at
home and found that the shower door did stay abit cleaner but not
much.

Recently we had a proper softener plumbed in and we have gone from
very hard water to rediculously soft water.  We got Kinetico softener
and had it supplied and fitted by Simply Soft, who I would recommend
(they did a good job at a good price - the only complaint was that on
the first visit they came with the wrong tap and had to make a second
visit).  Email me off list if you want to know about the relative
merits of the different softener on the market.  Installation is very
easy (softener in node0 as that's where the water mains comes in).
The hardest part was running a third pipe to our kitchen tap so we
have soft-hot, soft-cold & hard-filtered-cold (filter fitted under
sink).

It's hard to say if a softener saves money.  Bathroom stays cleaner,
taps look great (not covered in limescale).  You use less soap and
washing powder.  In theory clothes last longer, e.g. black t-shirts
don't turn grey. Don't forget the cost of salt for a plumbed in
softener - about 4 pounds a month.

Ewen


--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, Wayne <Wayne@p...> wrote:
>
> Hiyall,
> Further to the recent replacement of our washing machine (as the
other
> decided that it wanted to eat our clothes and make funny noises!)
we
> have just got a nice new one... no problems there...
>
> The nice little lady in the shop went rattling on about 'oh you
should
> realy consider getting some Calgon - we do it the best prices here,
> better than Asda even! and it will make your washing machine live
> longer' (no she didn't sing that bit - but I had to smile when the
tune
> went through my head)
>
> The washing machine came with a quick 'dip test stick' to see how
hard
> the water is, apparently ours is 'hard'. How 'fixed' these tests
are I
> don't know.
>
> Anyways... to the point...
> I've done a little digging on google and found lots of people doing
full
> on water purifiers / filters that need plumbers to fit (I'm not
allowed
> to do plumbing!), but have also come across these so called 'water
> conditioners' requiring no plumbing in - just wrapping of cables
around
> pipes.
>
> http://www.scalewatcher.co.uk/index.asp
> http://www.waterimp.co.uk/
>
> The thing is - do these things actually work?? and are they any
good?
> Have any of the 'ukha collective' ever used these things and would
like
> to share their thoughts? Are water softeners in general worth their
money?
>
> Cheers
> Wayne.
>
> ---------------------------------------
> Get in the mood for Christmas
> http://RADIO.planetWayne.com:8000
>