Water softeners

[teralin]

We recently bought two water treatment gadgets from Leroy Merlin. They both fit to your water pipe somewhere before the water enters the house. The first one takes any sediment out of the water and then the second one treats the water to soften it. My water comes from our well and is very hard and scales up kettles, washing machines etc within days. Since fitting the water softener, there is a very marked improvement in the quality of the water. The scale is dropping of the element in the kettle, the toilets no longer have a build up of scale and my hair feels wonderful after washing it. I am told that the water pipes in the house will gradually clear of any build-up of scale too. At around 40 euros for each of the water treatment gadgets, I thought that other A.commers might be interested.

[Grouser]

Do you have to replace filters in them? If so how often and at what cost?

[Shukran]

Interesting. We're looking into water treatment solutions at the moment that treats before the water enters the house. Most treatments we've heard of from friends and neighbours are a waste of space so would be interested in knowing the name of this system please and your response to Grouser's query. Would you happen to know if it's only Leroy Merlin that sells these or are they available elsewhere?

[teralin]

Grouser - yes you replace the filters about once a year. The sediment filter costs about 5 euros but the filter that softens the water costs about 35 euros as a single replacement unit because it is filled with crystals (not sure what kind). However, my constructor tells me that you can buy the crystals loose from plumb centres or pool shops for a fraction of the cost.

Shukran - I expect you can buy them elsewhere, they are not "Leroy" branded. The are called Pur Agua System and have a wesite www.puraguasystems.com. They are basically plastic containers that allow the water to flow through various filters and continue on it's way. You can buy the filtro de sedimentos, filtro declorador and filtro polyfosfatos piedras. I bought the first and the third types. I don't need a dechlorinator since my water comes from a well.

I am so pleased with the results that I am happy to recommend them as a cheap way of cleaning up and softening hard water.

[Shukran]

Thanks teralin - we'll certainly look into that. I think it's always better to get personal recommendations when buying that kind of thing.

[nevada smith]

http://www.puragua-systems.com/

[teralin]

Thanks Nevada, the dash was omitted from the website address on the box. The site looks rather intimidating for those only wanting a cheap water softener so I will give the code numbers of the products that I bought: filtro de sedimentos code 530000.0 and filtro polytosfatos pedras code 530000.1.

[Alan-LaCala]

Do you have to replace filters in them? If so how often and at what cost?

We have one for calcium and one for chlorine; you can get others as well.

The advice on ours is to replace them every 6 months.

One cost(replacements, not the original fittings) 15 euros and one 25, but I cannot remember which was which.

Alan

[Steve&Yvonne]

Is the water Ok for drinking all year around and does it taste good after these filters?

[teralin]

I have used the water for cooking purposes all year round before and after the filters were fitted and have not noticed any difference in taste. However, I always drink bottled water ever since a woman I know had her well water tested an found traces of *beep**c in it. She had been drinking it for years without knowing it. I think that the only filter that would drastically change the taste of the water would be the dechlorinator which I don't need. I understand that some town water supplies are chlorinated which without a filter can taste vile.

[teralin]

My post above has been edited for reasons unknown to me. The deleted word is a chemical element that if swallowed over a period of time can be fatal. For those of you of a certain age, a movie was made years ago with Alec Guiness called "*beep* and old lace".

[Shukran]

The missing word starts off sounding like a bum - that's probably why their automatic deleting system cottoned onto it! Unbelievable.