In the majority of cases, the water softener is installed close to the main incoming water tap and, as a result, all the water in the house will become soft. This means all of the bathrooms and every tap and sink will stay limescale free.
Things you might not want to have softened
There may be areas where it would be more beneficial to include a supply of non-softened water.
Garden Tap
If you have a large garden or you use a lot of water on the lawn then it’s best to have the plumbing adjusted so this doesn’t pass through the water softener. The soft water will not harm plants but you will use more salt in the softener so the running costs will increase slightly.
Most water softener installation companies, including ourselves, will offer this as standard when fitting a water softener.
On the other hand, if you use very little water in the garden, you may decide to have the outdoor tap supplied with softened water. The advantage being that it’s better for washing the car or windows, with fewer streaks and watermarks afterwards.
Drinking water
For the vast majority of the population, there is nothing wrong with drinking soft water, only a small amount of sodium is added and typically levels are well below the World Health Organization’s recommended level of sodium in drinking water.
But the water softener does remove minerals such as calcium and magnesium from the water. This is why we recommend drinking water that has not passed through the water softener to maintain maximum health benefits. To do this you can leave the kitchen tap as normal water, or a popular solution is to have a separate small tap or 3-way tap fitted with the latter options allowing for an integrated drinking water filter to be fitted if desired.
For more information please read take a look at the articles below or get in touch
Can I drink soft water?
Drinking water tap options
