ᐅ Do you have a water softening system installed?

Created on: 4 Dec 2014 22:34
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SebastianSE
Hello dear home builders,

Do you have a water softening system? Is it really worth it, or is it just a money-making scheme?
Our architect recommended one to us, but the question is whether the 3000 euros really justify it.
I think that’s a lot of money.
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Tanita
23 Aug 2018 06:42
We also have the Grünbeck!
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munger71
23 Aug 2018 07:30
We have a Biocat from Watercryst, belonging to the family of crystallizers. It produces larger limescale crystals in the water that can be easily wiped away. No need to refill salt, and the sodium content is not affected. It works great for us.
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Wickie
23 Aug 2018 08:15
I am always glad that we have such soft water here and do not need a system like that. Yesterday, by chance, I checked with our local utility to find out the hardness level so I could set the new dishwasher correctly.
It is 7.1 here.
It’s amazing, when you look at the water hardness map of Germany, how high it is in other regions... people in the south don’t really have much to envy here!
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Alex85
23 Aug 2018 08:29
One might wonder why water softening is not done centrally at the water treatment plant and its cost included in the water price, instead of distributing hard water through the entire infrastructure, resulting in thousands of decentralized softening units at the consumer level.

We have moderately hard water around 12.5 dh. It's acceptable. Not quite hard enough to complain about or justify the investment, but it’s not exactly ideal either.
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hanse987
23 Aug 2018 08:52
Alex85 schrieb:
One might wonder why water softening is not done centrally at the water treatment plant and included in the water price, instead of passing hard water through the entire infrastructure and having thousands of decentralized units at the consumer’s end.

Central water softening is already implemented in some new water treatment plants. In our area, such a system has recently started operating. A heating engineer mentioned that some people might experience problems with their old plumbing. The accumulated scale often sealed old pipes, and if this layer gradually breaks down over time, leaks could occur.
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MayrCh
23 Aug 2018 12:30
munger71 schrieb:
Belongs to the family of crystallizers and promotes the formation of larger calcium carbonate crystals in the water

Now I see the light. Honeywell manufactured and sold something similar or the same until the early 2000s. The crystallization seeds in their system were macroscopic polymer beads—what is now referred to as "microplastics." When the issue of microplastics gained attention, including media coverage, Honeywell effectively withdrew the technology from the market overnight.
Now this technology is being sold under the label "bio"-cat. Hmm. Whether you prefer to add microplastics or salt to your drinking water is a personal choice. Both methods certainly work.