ᐅ Heavy Residue Buildup from Water – Despite Water Softening System

Hello,

I hope this is the right section of the forum for my question. We have an extension and have installed a water softener from Grünbeck from the start, as the water in our area is quite hard (16° dH). Previously, we lived a few kilometers away with a similar hardness level but without a softener, and we regularly dealt with limescale stains.

To prevent exactly that in our new home, we had the softener installed. It is set to 5° dH, which I check regularly. Everything seems fine so far. However, we are experiencing significantly more deposits here than in our previous apartment. We could clean our glass shower screen every day, the glasses come out spotted from the dishwasher (which is correctly set), and we have to descale the kettle weekly using citric acid. Attached is a photo of a plate. We poured about 0.5 liters (0.1 gallons) of tap water onto it and let it evaporate over three days. We also noticed that these deposits are easier to clean off than typical limescale.

Is this normal, or what kind of deposits could these be? Possibly any health risks? We are wondering how it is possible to have much stronger deposits despite having a water softener. Thanks in advance!

Best regards

Michael

Abzug86 schrieb:

To prevent exactly that in the new house, we had a water softener installed. It is set to 5° dh,

Such a low level is not necessary. Even at 7-9° dh, there are no significant limescale deposits. However, since only hardness is reduced, other substances can still cause stains.

As this issue is well known (also by Grünbeck), here is an explanation from Grünbeck themselves:

"Water softening using the cation exchange process replaces the hardness minerals calcium and magnesium in the water with sodium. This changes the salt composition of the water. The total salt content remains unchanged. However, the total water hardness and thus the amount of limescale decreases.

After water use, water droplets always remain on fittings and surfaces, which then dry and leave all dissolved salts as solid residues (water spots). With hard water (high calcium and magnesium content), these deposits form relatively quickly and mainly consist of poorly soluble calcium carbonate (limescale). Even with low hardness after a water softener, deposits can still occur, but they develop more slowly. In addition, with soft water (low calcium and magnesium content), deposits mainly consist of easily soluble sodium carbonate. This can be removed much more easily by mechanical means compared to calcium carbonate."

My advice to you is not to soften the water too much. Try a hardness level of 8° as a test. You should get fewer stains that way.

It’s the same for us.

On the other hand, unsoftened water flows through the pipes during the regeneration phase, providing some warmth.

So, if the regeneration is happening while you’re showering, you’ll be showering with hard water.

We reduced the hardness level from 24 dh to 6 dh.

Since I know how it would be without water softening, that difference is huge.

Greenbeck also recommends annual maintenance, which costs about 300 euros. We always have this done since the system is still under warranty.
Strangely, ever since the Greenbeck technician was here, I can now set the meter for the next maintenance myself… He must have forgotten something.

Additionally, Greenbeck has a pretty good app that shows a lot of information, from salt usage to water flow.

Patricck schrieb:

Grünbeck also requires annual maintenance, which costs around 300 euros

How is this exorbitant amount justified? We pay only 240 EUR for the complete annual maintenance (including heating and ventilation), also from a specialist company certified by Grünbeck. This even includes 40 EUR for travel expenses.

Abzug86 schrieb:

How does this outrageous amount come about? We pay only 240 EUR for the annual full service (including heating and ventilation), from a specialist company certified by Grünbeck. This even includes 40 EUR for travel costs.

The manufacturer’s service wants 250 plus materials.

There is no one here to provide support because billing with Grünbeck involves more effort, so they just send the manufacturer’s service instead.

And this is still cheap compared to other manufacturers.