I see that this thread is from three years ago, and you might have already made your decision regarding a water softener. Nevertheless, for anyone else who comes across this post, it's essential to note that water softeners can still be a valuable addition to your home.Typically, a water softener is connected to the mains, treating water for the entire house, including bathrooms. If you're concerned about drinking water, adding a well water iron filter in the kitchen is a good option.Remember that water quality can significantly impact your daily life, so it's worth considering these solutions even if the thread is a few years old.

We used Harvey’s too. You can separate drinking from other uses . I’ve had it installed in my utility cupboard . It was v expensive I think a bit over £1000 but it’s nice not to have lime scale clogging up my appliances , on glass and it’s great for the skin so well worth it .

We used Harvey’s too. You can separate drinking from other uses . I’ve had it installed in my utility cupboard . It was v expensive I think a bit over £1000 but it’s nice not to have lime scale clogging up my appliances , on glass and it’s great for the skin so well worth it .

We had one installed by Harvey’s water softeners, and it’s been a game changer.

I looked into the drinking water issue quite a lot and found that drinking 2 litres of softened water contains around the same amount of sodium as a couple of slices of bread.
So you don’t need to have the kitchen tap bypassed, but some people prefer the taste of hard water so chose to anyway. They recommend you don’t use softened water to make up bottles of formula milk but this wasn’t an issue for us.

We have all noticed an improvement in our hair and skin, and there are zero water marks on the shower screen now, so cleaning the bathroom takes half the time..!
It’s also noticeable how much less shampoo/soap/washing powder we need to use.

When we were looking to get in installed, we had quotes from plumbers and Harvey’s, and decided to go with Harvey’s because theirs is a ‘passive’ system with no moving parts.
The system being suggested by the plumber had to be serviced every year which sounded like it meant it had potential to go wrong!

A water softener works perfectly well in hard water areas. The whole house system can be installed on your mains valve which will soften all the water entering your home. I got my softener and water filter installed last year. I have a separate drinking water tap on my kitchen sink and all the water in my house is soft now. I've seen tremendous improvement in the quality of water with no limescale. 

I would recommend going for a Clack valve, simply because of its durability and reliability. On the maintenance end, you would need to top up your softener with regeneration salt. A family of four roughly consumes 6 bags of salt in a year costing around €10 each. 

Hope this helps!

It keeps breaking down. It's attached to a pump so often it's the pump rather than the water softener. Pump repairers are rarer than hen's teeth and don't seem keen on doing the job. I paid £330 to have a couple of guys tell me the pump was broken and I needed a new one. Took them all of ten minutes. Having said that I do like not having limescale everywhere on the rare occasions it works! I also think it's better for my skin. But you're right - not good for drinking.

Dudette,
What kind of problems have you had?
We have a softener installed, I wasn’t very keen at all but my husband was sold on the idea.
I personally can’t see any notable difference with softened water.
I also agree about the tap water, I made sure the kitchen tap was bypassed.
I don’t like the idea of trusting a machine to not go wrong a keep the water clean and also there is the issue of sodium even if low levels.
I do hate he inconvenience of avoiding the bathroom tap for filling up waterbottles for night time.

I’m not a fan at all.

It’s not connected to the drinking water tap as softened water isn’t very good for you. It’s quite a bulky thing and you need to fill it with salt tablets. Ours is in the basement and has caused us nothing but trouble. I’d do some careful research.

Looking to have a water softener installed. Any recommendations gratefully received. Does it just get connected to the mains with a filter tap in the kitchen for drinking water or does it get put in the bathrooms?
All advice and info needed.
Many thanks