Water softeners reduce energy bills

(08/04/2008)

Water softeners have been around doing a great job for decades but originally they were fairly cumbersome units that were, to be kind, not the best looking things to have in the home. Water softener technology has dramatically improved over the years and domestic products are now smaller and more user-friendly than ever before. As a result of this, and as people become more aware of the whole host of benefits that soft water can provide, there has been a growing trend towards the installation of water softeners in hard water areas, in particular in East Anglia, London and the South East.

If like more than 60% of the population in the UK, you live in a hard water area, you could literally be pouring money down the drain. While hard water is not in itself harmful, in many ways it’s not pleasant and it can influence your everyday life, it can take its toll on your plumbing and it can definitely have a negative effect on the environment, not to mention hitting your pocket where it hurts.

We all know what the effects of hard water look like where you can see it – scum in kettles, greeny grey stains in sinks, on taps and shower heads and shower doors and down the loo – but if it’s causing that much damage where you can see it, what’s it doing where you can’t? Heated hard water forms a scale of calcium minerals - limescale to you and me - which can clog up your pipework, reduce the effectiveness of your heating and hot water system, and contribute to the inefficient operation or failure of water-using appliances like dishwashers and washing machines.

This can have a worryingly negative effect on your energy bills, it may necessitate the replacement of pipes and radiators, and cost you more in servicing and maintaining or even replacing the key appliances that suffer from the effects of hard water - your boiler, washing machine, dishwasher and kettle.

British Water says that in hard water areas, just 1.6mm of scale in heating systems causes a 12% loss in heat transfer from the energy source (gas, electricity or oil) to water, in terms of heating efficiency. Remember, that if scale builds up on an element – in the boiler’s case, its heat exchanger - it has to heat the scale before it heats the water. What a waste of investing in the latest high efficiency, condensing boiler.

Hard water also causes soaps and detergents to lose their effectiveness, meaning that you use more of them and it costs you more too, of course. According to British Water, using soft water can reduce by up to 50% the amounts of soaps and detergents you use day to day. Soft water is also proven to increase the lifespan of your linen - continuous laundering in hard water can damage fibres and shorten the life of clothes and bedding for example by up to 40 per cent. After a while, towels that have been washed in hard water feel like sand paper to dry yourself on.

The most popular solution to the problem of hard water is to have a water softener installed in your home. They are simple to fit - just like a washing machine or dishwasher - and easy to maintain and they will noticeably improve the quality of your domestic water supply. They can significantly reduce the amount of fuel and detergents you need to use, which is far kinder to the environment as well as to your bank balance. And unlike most appliances, they have actually have a payback time – typically between two and four years.

From a personal point of view, soft water is better for your skin and your hair – softer, nicer skin and more shiny hair – most people with water softeners remark on the difference it makes. And an added benefit is that many eczema sufferers and people suffering from other skin complaints like psoriasis, have reported an improvement in their condition following the use of softened water. There’s a scientific research programme under way through Nottingham University trying to establish if there is scientific evidence for this, but the number of people who claim it, helps seems to suggest there is more than just hearsay evidence for this benefit to softened water.

In the home, the build up of limescale is eliminated so kettles stop furring up, tea and coffee tastes so much better and heating systems operate at optimum efficiency levels. Cleaning kitchens and bathrooms becomes so much easier too .

What about drinking softened water? Contrary to popular belief, there’s not a lot of sodium in softened water. An adult who drinks 4 pints of softened water per day would only add 310 mg to his or her daily intake – which is less than 9% of the average total and less than in two slices of bread. Tapworks and the UKWTA – the United Kingdom Water Treatment Association - recommend that where a softener is installed there is a hard water tap left operational for drinking water, but this is largely a personal taste decision. Whilst not required by regulation, except in exceptionally hard water areas (above 400mgl), this is recommended by the UK Dept of Health and WRAS.

At the end of 2007, Tapworks was independently assessed as the first carbon neutral water softener manufacturer in the UK – and it’s believed to be the first popular household appliance manufacturer of any kind to be able to claim carbon neutral status or better.

Related categories:  Consumables   Energy Conservation   Hot water generation and supply   Residential applications   Washing machines   Water treatment 

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