ᐅ Water Softening System – Is a Bypass Worthwhile for the Garden and Kitchen?

Hello everyone,

we need to decide over the weekend how to install our water softening system. (It will probably be a Judo i-soft.)
Until now, I always thought it made sense not to run the outdoor tap and kitchen sink through the softener.
The outdoor tap, to avoid unnecessary salt consumption, and the sink, because we plan to use the tap water as drinking water.

A few things are now making me doubt this:

• After a quick search, the salt consumption for an outdoor tap seems negligible?
• The benefit of softening is lost at one of the critical points – the kitchen sink.
• The whole setup costs about 600 Euro extra.

I also considered a sink with two faucet holes (1x softened, 1x for drinking), but that doesn’t really seem practical since I would always have to run the water for a while before drinking.

What’s your opinion on this? Would you say, "I wish I had planned a second line back then" or "I could have saved myself the trouble and just live with the scale buildup on the sink every day"?

We followed your exact suggestion and have no regrets.
I don’t want to drink the softened water, partly because of the taste.

If you’re putting the unit in the basement, make sure to choose the higher-end version from Judo. It includes a specific sensor that prevents the system from flooding your basement during a power outage.

The bypass line in the kitchen goes straight to the sink, or have you planned an entirely separate outlet (a second tap)?

Snowy36 schrieb:

Make sure to choose the higher version of the Judo unit if you plan to install it in the basement. It includes a specific sensor that prevents the system from flooding your basement in case of a power outage.

We don’t have a basement, and the Judo definitely has a built-in “aquastop.” We also requested a quote from Grünbeck, and they specifically noted that an additional component (Grünbeck protectliQ) is required for this functionality.

No, we don’t have a second valve…

If you had two flushes, that would be cool because then you could do one like this and one like that, but for us, that was too much anyway.

And I’m not talking about this feature: the system detects uncontrolled water flow somewhere in the house and shuts off the supply if needed.

I mean this one: it includes a backup power supply that keeps all important system functions running for several hours during a power outage. Leak protection and connected floor sensors continue to work as well.

Otherwise, it could happen that the system flushes just as the power goes out… and then you have to imagine where the water would end up.

In my case, it goes into the wastewater lifting station, but that won’t work either —> basement floods.

Snowy36 schrieb:

And I’m not referring to the feature where the system detects uncontrolled water flow anywhere in the house and simply shuts off the supply in case of emergency.

Rather this one: It includes an emergency power supply that maintains all critical system functions for several hours during a power outage. The leak protection and connected floor sensors also continue to operate.

Thank you for the information.
I have now found an article on "heizungsjournal.de":
"Also new: The 'i-soft plus' and the 'i-soft safe' now feature the emergency power supply 'Safety Module.' In the event of a power failure, it keeps all essential system functions running for several hours. The leak protection and connected leak sensors remain fully operational."

We were offered the "Judo i-soft safe." That should put us on the safe side, although on the Judo website I can only find the basic system or the safe+.

I estimated the additional salt consumption for garden irrigation at around €15-20 per year. This depends on the water volume used and the amount of salt required for softening. I did not include maintenance or resin replacement costs. Adding a branch line before the system did not cost extra, as we installed the system after the branch to the lower outdoor tap. The two upper outdoor taps are supplied through the water softener.

Today, I would install an additional line to the kitchen for a separate drinking water tap, as the untreated water tastes better to us.