Limescale

axel rose

Hi,

My head is melted with the limescale in my house. I have to rescale my kettle most days to get rid of that gritty feeling. I don't want to think of the damage that I can't see....

I figure that I need some kind of softener system for both drinking water and for the rest of the house. However I have horrible memories of those damn companies that went door to door that 'tested' your water to find it poisonous- unless you buy their system :rolleyes:.

Any recommendations on a proper company as opposed to a salesman that serves the north east?

shane0007

What area are you in?

axel rose

Hi Shane, I'm in Dundalk.

shane0007

You have two options:

Get a specialist water filtration guy in as they usually have the test equipment to test the exact levels of hardness in your water or have your water tested independently by your LA or similar and then get a local plumber to install the filtration system. If the latter, you must give the results to the manufacturer/supplier and they are usually set up in the factory to suit your installation.

Is your water mains or well?

Robbie.G

PM send of someone who might be able to help you

Dtp79

shane0007 wrote: »

You have two options:

Get a specialist water filtration guy in as they usually have the test equipment to test the exact levels of hardness in your water or have your water tested independently by your LA or similar and then get a local plumber to install the filtration system. If the latter, you must give the results to the manufacturer/supplier and they are usually set up in the factory to suit your installation.

Is your water mains or well?

How accurate is a tds meter at reading water hardness?

shane0007

Dtp79 wrote: »

How accurate is a tds meter at reading water hardness?

It would not isolate hardness as it will measure all others that contribute to Total Dissolved Solids. Then if the filtration was set too high based on this, it would just lead to high sodium levels coming into the house after the filter. This can contribute to health issues plus attack certain materials within the system such as stainless steel cylinder welds, etc.

Dtp79

shane0007 wrote: »

It would not isolate hardness as it will measure all others that contribute to Total Dissolved Solids. Then if the filtration was set too high based on this, it would just lead to high sodium levels coming into the house after the filter. This can contribute to health issues plus attack certain materials within the system such as stainless steel cylinder welds, etc.

Ye I know. I did a bit of reading on tds meters a while back. Basically said its not accurate at reading artificially softened water but can read naturally hard and soft. Here's what I found

shane0007

Yes this is exactly correct. Other misleading components would be iron and the like.

corkgsxr

Dtp79 wrote: »

How accurate is a tds meter at reading water hardness?

Useless. Could be anything your reading

Dtp79

corkgsxr wrote: »

Useless. Could be anything your reading

I've tested mine against known hard, slightly hard, soft and very soft waters and they are very very close to the readings in that chart

Dtp79

corkgsxr wrote: »

Useless. Could be anything your reading

I've tested mine against known hard, slightly hard, soft and very soft waters and they are very very close to the readings in that chart

corkgsxr

Dtp79 wrote: »

I've tested mine against known hard, slightly hard, soft and very soft waters and they are very very close to the readings in that chart

ok problem is they read indiscriminately. like how do you know you dont have half iron and half limescale. its grand to get a reading but you have no idea what combo of solids.

there chart says in general, meaning most of the time this is about right.

90% of water in the south will have a tds of between 180-300 tds

imo its just not a accurate test

shane0007

corkgsxr wrote: »

ok problem is they read indiscriminately. like how do you know you dont have half iron and half limescale. its grand to get a reading but you have no idea what combo of solids.

there chart says in general, meaning most of the time this is about right.

90% of water in the south will have a tds of between 180-300 tds

imo its just not a accurate test

I have to agree with you. It is fine for testing for Powerflushing purposes but to base a backwash setting on it could be hit & miss. I would prefer to use a designated line scale test. At least then, guessing is eliminated.

DGOBS

Best practice would be send it to a water lab for full analysis

axel rose

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. I guess I need to get my act together next weekend. Robbin was kind enough to pm me number.