Water Softning/Drinking system

Scottie99

Can anyone suggest or have experiences of companies who install these systems. How much did you pay, how much salt a year(cost) do you use a year? etc.
We are paying around €450 a year using these 19 gallon dispensers for drinking water.
Many Thanks

mcwhirter

If you just want a drinking water system then i recommend the 5 stage reverse osmosis kit, costs about 150 euros and then about 40 a year for filter changes. easily installed diy.
Also there are new water softeners that dont need salt, just google and find them.

Skrynesaver

Likewise interested in feedback/experiences people have had with local fitters. I've installed a power shower and I'd like to fit a water softening system before it gets encrusted in limescale.

donalg1

Scottie99 wrote: »

Can anyone suggest or have experiences of companies who install these systems. How much did you pay, how much salt a year(cost) do you use a year? etc.
We are paying around €450 a year using these 19 gallon dispensers for drinking water.
Many Thanks

Got one installed a few days ago and it cost €700 for everything.

endplate

Www.water2buy.ie based in Galway do water softeners and reverse osmosis systems. I got the small metered water softener and reverse osmosis for €590. It was very easy to install the site even includes videos on how to install the kits.

mcwhirter

endplate wrote: »

Www.water2buy.ie based in Galway do water softeners and reverse osmosis systems. I got the small metered water softener and reverse osmosis for €590. It was very easy to install the site even includes videos on how to install the kits.

How much does it cost to maintain the water softener?

RO water tastes terrible.
If you are having no problems due to hard water on your appliances I reckon €450/year spend on drinking water is tolerable.

mcwhirter

Reverse osmosis water in my area is far better that the regular tap water, also many of my friends have systems and they would never go back to regular tap water.
As long as it is serviced every 6 months you can't go wrong.

I have no doubt it mightn't be as bad as the tap water
RO water isn't to the liking of many people's tastebuds as the minerals etc are removed, many drinks companies add little amounts of minerals back into water after it comes out of the RO process for this very reason. RO water tastes terrible as there's very little in it.

kormak

hijacking thread somewhat...

But can anyone recommend me an installer for one of these systems?
You can PM me.
I may just need a UV lamp + filter but I'd prefer an expert opinion.

endplate

mcwhirter wrote: »

How much does it cost to maintain the water softener?

A large bag of salt cost me €7.50 and after 3 months I have not used it up yet and I reckon there is about another month of salt left. House has two adults and one three year old so a lot of baths and showers etc. Am very happy with it. I also don't find any funny taste with the reverse osmosis filtered water.

mcwhirter

endplate wrote: »

A large bag of salt cost me €7.50 and after 3 months I have not used it up yet and I reckon there is about another month of salt left. House has two adults and one three year old so a lot of baths and showers etc. Am very happy with it. I also don't find any funny taste with the reverse osmosis filtered water.

That seems quite reasonable. Are the salt bags the same as you put in the dishwasher reservoir every once in a while. Are they the ones you can buy in homebase and the like?

Yes, agree with reverse osmosis, its hard to go back to the chlorine infested tap water.

vibe666

I have a 7 stage RO system which i bought off ebay for €130 and i'd happily put it up against any bottled water you care to name for both taste and purity.

the last of the 7 stages is a re-mineralisation filter which puts back all the good stuff that gives you the desired flavour in the water.

the water is also as soft as it gets and as a result of using it, the inside of my kettle looks quite literally like it's brand new, despite having previously being covered in limescale from the crappy water we have in Dublin 15.

I used to live in Navan which is traditionally a hard water area, but when we moved to Clonsilla before xmas, it was at a whole new level and the tap water was barely drinkable and as well as stinking of chlorine, it was off colour and contained some sediment.

we had fingal co. co. out to do water tests, but they concluded that the water was within the EU guidelines and that was as far as they were willing to go, so I had to take matters into my own hands as the whole family were starting to get skin problems from showering and washing in the water and with a 9 month old baby, i had to do something about it and an RO filter system seemed to be the answer.

i managed to catch an ebay auction ending when it was really quiet and got the whole €260 thing for €130. it took less than a week to arrive and about an hour to install, even with my own very limited DIY experience.

I've since added a hydraulic pump (powered by the water pressure) to increase the output and i'm planning on adding a 2nd RO membrane and a bigger reservoir (16L, up from the 8L it was supplied with) to allow me to supply the whole house, rather than just our drinking, cooking and hand washing water, but I'm very happy with it so far and would highly recommend it to anyone who has problems with their water supply.

personally, it's worth it just to have clear ice cubes instead of cloudy ones.

endplate

mcwhirter wrote: »

endplate wrote: »

A large bag of salt cost me €7.50 and after 3 months I have not used it up yet and I reckon there is about another month of salt left. House has two adults and one three year old so a lot of baths and showers etc. Am very happy with it. I also don't find any funny taste with the reverse osmosis filtered water.

That seems quite reasonable. Are the salt bags the same as you put in the dishwasher reservoir every once in a while. Are they the ones you can buy in homebase and the like?

Yes, agree with reverse osmosis, its hard to go back to the chlorine infested tap water.

They are 25kg bags in large 25mm chunks much bigger than the dishwasher salt

Scottie99

Update
I had visit from a lady selling the softener/osmosis system. She went through her selling routine but in reality I knew we need a system but it was down to the cost.

Tablets she said were anything from €6-10 per bag and would last 4-6 weeks.
Servicing (filter)would be €60 with her system and €90 another company.
The crunch...the cost €1600!!:eek:

I think around €1000 would be a fair price, I know there are cheaper system around but not all good. I've heard the Clack TC Softener system is supposedly a good option, so I will go for that.
I've found a Company to buy/fit the system for €970 I know my neighbour is interested, so I'll be looking for further discount if both of us go ahead with it.

As for my original post, I was using 19 litre container not 19 gallon

vibe666

people really don't need to be spending that much money fixing their bad water supply and for the most part you can install the kit yourself.

if you just want good clean drinking/cooking water at your kitchen sink or feeding into a fridge with a cooled water supply/icemaker then you can spend €300 or so and get yourself a good quality (and complete) RO filter system which you can assemble and install yourself under your sink in less than an hour.

if you want to go the whole hog and filter all the water coming into the house, then €600-800 will more than do the job, inc. paying a competent plumber to properly install it for you.

I got my 7 stage RO kit from http://www.aquasafe.de and I couldn't be happier.

They're (obviously) a German crowd, but they speak English (there's an English translation button on their website on the top right of the main page) and have always responded to all my questions and I got a great deal (with quick delivery) by watching their ebay store for good bargains.

here's a frozen sample i took of my water, both straight from the tap (unfiltered) and from my RO filter system, obviously with the purer water being the less cloudy looking bit of ice.

I had to wash them under the tap to get the frost off them, so they're both a bit cracked, but you get a good idea of the difference in purity.

kormak

That looks like Jordan's last pair...

kormak

I have my own private well which I need to get treated.
I'm aware that there is eColi in the water, however almost everyone I talk to (that deals with these filtration systems and indeed well water systems) tell me that I'd be safer getting an independent test done on the water to confirm exactly what's in it and therefore decide what kind of system I need.
I don't want to be hoodwinked into installing something really expensive that I just don't need but I do want the most desirable system.
It's covered with a grant too, which should reduce costs...

I've decided to take this "formal" route and have ordered a general drinking water test with this crowd which costs €100:
http://fitzsci.ie/home/environmental/water-testing/drinking-water/

Can anyone advise if I need to have extra things tested such as Nitrates, etc...
I genuinely haven't a clue!! and am hoping the standard test is more than enough.

vibe666

a decent RO system with a UV filter would easily take care of e-coli and anything else present in your water.

kormak

vibe666 wrote: »

a decent RO system with a UV filter would easily take care of e-coli and anything else present in your water.

and roughly how uch should I expect to pay for the above 2 systems + installation costs?

Newgrange Warrior

kormak wrote: »

I have my own private well which I need to get treated.
I'm aware that there is eColi in the water, however almost everyone I talk to (that deals with these filtration systems and indeed well water systems) tell me that I'd be safer getting an independent test done on the water to confirm exactly what's in it and therefore decide what kind of system I need.
I don't want to be hoodwinked into installing something really expensive that I just don't need but I do want the most desirable system.
It's covered with a grant too, which should reduce costs...

I've decided to take this "formal" route and have ordered a general drinking water test with this crowd which costs €100:
http://fitzsci.ie/home/environmental/water-testing/drinking-water/

Can anyone advise if I need to have extra things tested such as Nitrates, etc...
I genuinely haven't a clue!! and am hoping the standard test is more than enough.

I would recommend to ask fitz to test for the standard drinking water parameters (c.100e). They will give you a lab sheet with the results compared to the recommended drinking water standards. It is important you collect the sample bottles and gloves, they also give you a 1pg guide on how to take a sample correctly.

I went this way for my well and found the well had elevated coliforms, iron & manganese. I got a UV and water softener system installed from a local guy in slane. PM if you want his details.

Also I ended getting a grant off the Council which paid 75% of the equipment costs- http://www.meath.ie/LocalAuthorities/WaterServices/WellGrants/.

vibe666

kormak wrote: »

and roughly how uch should I expect to pay for the above 2 systems + installation costs?

the UV filter is only a small extra cost compared to a full RO system, so I'd be confident you could get the whole lot done and dusted to be able to filter & sterilise your whole water supply without breaking the €1000 mark.

just as an additional note on the overall running costs, something few people would consider when pricing up any of these systems is that boilers, radiators, washing machines, dishwashers, kettles and coffee machines etc. will all last a heck of a lot longer without ending up damaged by a poor quality water supply so servicing and replacement costs for anything that uses water from your incoming supply will be a lot lower in the medium to long term.

the downside is that an RO system is that even the best ones aren't very efficient and an RO system running non-optimally (i.e. in a low pressure area with no booster pump) *could* be using water at a ratio of 10:1 (i.e. 10L of dirty water = 1L of clean water) and even a system working at optimum levels will still only be running at around 4:1, so our water bills will be very high if the government ever manage to bring in those water charges.

i can't comment on the efficiency of the non-RO softening systems though, as i have no experience with them.

kormak

vibe666 wrote: »

the downside is that an RO system is that even the best ones aren't very efficient and an RO system running non-optimally (i.e. in a low pressure area with no booster pump) *could* be using water at a ratio of 10:1 (i.e. 10L of dirty water = 1L of clean water) and even a system working at optimum levels will still only be running at around 4:1, so our water bills will be very high if the government ever manage to bring in those water charges.

I spoke over the phone before with minister Fergus O'Dowd who assured me private well owners in this country would not be charged water fees.
Not a hope in hell will I ever pay water charges on a private well which is maintained by me and where the actual area where I live has has no mains or groups schemes available.
My entire pump needed to be replaced only last week costing me €227... sporadic costs like these never have to be taken into account by people using mains water!!

vibe666

yeah, it's good for you in a way having your own filter system, i was just reminding anyone on mains water that it could be a possible future cost for them.

my in-laws have a similar set up to yourself with a private well shared with their next door neighbour, although it was recently polluted by the M3 roadworks when they were building the motorway (they're less than 1 mile from it) and their nice clean and clar tap water is now undrinkable after nearly 30 years of using it, and the government will do nothing about the damage.

i might actually look at seeing if we can get them a similar system installed to fix their water supply. bad son in law should probably have got that sorted for them long ago.

mcwhirter

Remember to shop around for spare filters, a place in dundalk has good prices.

vibe666

mcwhirter wrote: »

Remember to shop around for spare filters, a place in dundalk has good prices.

that's what the interwebz is for!

mcwhirter

Aquasafe seem expensive compared to what i paid for spare filters.