subject: Buying A Domestic Water Softener [print this page] Water Softeners are becoming ever more popular in domestic situations but there are a few important considerations before deciding on your purchase.
The first thing to do is check that the water is hard and actually needs softening. This will depend on your geographic location in the country and how the water may have been treated at source. Just using your eyes alone should tell you if you have hard water - the easiest way is to check how much limescale there is in your kettle. Hard water is defined as having more hardness minerals than one grain per gallon (slightly hard) all the way up to 10.5 grains per gallon (very hard). Most people know if they have hard water as clothes and bed linen feel rough to the touch. If you soften your water you will have cleaner and softer clothes, longer appliance life, and will use less household cleaning detergents and save on soap and shampoo.
To see what size of water softener might fit your needs, first determine how much softened water your household needs daily and compare that with the output of the equipment you are reviewing. Next determine whether it should be fully manual, semi-automatic, or fully automatic. Manual softeners require valves to be opened and closed as required. The valves control how often, how long and how much back flushing or recharging the water softener does. The semi auto models need to be activated by a person as and when required, however the fully automatic softeners work without any human intervention so long as the salt container doesn't run dry. This is the most popular type for domestic households.
Next review whether any pre-treatment is necessary to remove iron and manganese. If the water softener is salt-based (not all are), check whether the sodium salts will harm your septic tank system if you have one. You will also need to have a separate drinking water supply, as drinking soft water can have adverse health effects.
Be careful and always consider the fully installed cost - meaning take into account the costs of the unit plus plumbing installation costs. Be sure also to review the list of manufacturer's features against your actual requirements as it is common to finish up buying more equipment than your actual needs dictate. Also, consider where the water softener needs to be sited and how often you will need to recharge the salts or provide other routine maintenance. If it is installed somewhere difficult to access and you opt for manual system then this can be problematic.
As you can see, there are many considerations in determining the type of water softener to install in your home, so be cautious and only buy from a reputable supplier.
by: Fenton Wayne
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