We live in a hard water area, and it makes a right mess of taps, shower heads, etc etc.

I had a leaflet through the door offering a water softener.

Do these things work? Are they worth installing? Do they last indefinitely or do they need changing?

And if they are good what type to get? There seems to be the ones that use electricity and you don't have to cut any pipes, then there are the plumbed in version. I can do plumbing so not worried about tackling that.

So, what do all you clever people on here think?

Same issue as you.

I have an electric water softener, I still need to "de-scale my kettle every 2-3 weeks."

It might be the fact that the thing is working and releasing the limescale into the water, I am thinking about turning the thing off, and seeing what happens. It seemed to work initially, but i am sure our problem is getting worse.

The best limescale remover I have found is from B&Q, Fernox DS-3...

We've got one of the plumbed in sort that take salt tablets and it has completely removed all traces of limescale. We sometimes get a slight black residue around the plughole but that just reminds us to fill it up.

If I ever moved house, I'd probably fit another one.

Ed.

Madinventions - what are the running costs?

I also thought you were not meant to drink the water, due to something!!!!

We probably use 1 bag of salt tablets every 2-3 months at a cost of about £2.50 each, but we aren't what you'd call particularly high users of water (no kids etc, just 4 adults).

I've never noticed any real difference in the taste of the water, or any ill effects of drinking it and cooking with it for the last 3 years. I guess that if it wasn't meant to be drunk then there would either be warning labels everywhere or they wouldn't be on sale to the general public? As with all these things, there may be a tiny risk to some people who have particular medical conditions etc, but they should be perfectly safe for the vast majority (IMHO).

As a note, I checked out our washing machine a few months ago due to a slipping belt, and the element was still shiny , and we live in a notoriously hard water area.

Ed.

They are good for you to drink, my mum used to have kidney stones and was told to get one installed.