While our water supply remains constant, we are polluting it faster than nature can clean it.  And, we are polluting it with more contaminants than ever before.

The hydrological cycle

Nature purifies water through a process known as the hydrological cycle.  In this process, water evaporates from lakes, streams and other surface water rising to the sky as vapour.  In this vapour state, water is in its purest form with all contaminants left behind.

When enough vapour has joined together in the form of clouds, it falls to the earth as rain, snow, or other precipitation.  This pure moisture begins to collect impurities from the air on its journey down.  When it reaches the ground, it continues to collect everything from minerals to pesticides.  Because of this ability to collect or absorb other substances, water is often referred to as nature’s solvent.

Natural water problems

The ‘path’ that water takes to enter a home determines the types of problems it can have.

Water passing through shale, limestone and other soft rocks will dissolve and carry calcium and magnesium from those rocks into the home, causing hard water problems.

Water passing through granite, marble and other hard rocks cannot dissolve or absorb anything: it remains ‘hungry’ or acidic as it enters the home, and begins dissolving or eating away at pipes and chrome plumbing fixtures.

Water passing through iron-bearing rock will collect iron, causing rust stains and other iron-related problems in the home.

Water also collects tastes and odours as it passes through decaying vegetation, gases, minerals, and organic material beneath the earth’s surface.

Man-made water problems

In addition to natural contaminants, water absorbs man-made contaminants that cause significant water problems.

Modern society has made many scientific advances, but in the process has also created many new by-products and contaminants.  Thousands of chemicals and compounds have been invented in recent years, but effective methods for disposing of them after use have not kept pace.

Petrochemical spills and leaks from decades ago have seeped into the underground water supply.  Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers are washed by rainwater into streams, rivers, lakes and wells.

Identifying common water problems

Public water authorities ensure we receive good quality water in our homes.  However, they can’t tackle all of our water problems.

Hard Water

It’s easy to spot; it leaves a bathtub ring made up of hardness minerals and soap.  This scum will also collect on shower walls, clings to hair, clogs skin pores and makes house cleaning difficult.  Hard water deposits can also clog pipes, cause water heaters to operate inefficiently, and increase maintenance on water-dependent appliances.

Hard water has been created when water passes through rock formations and picks up calcium and magnesium.  About 60% of homes in the UK suffer from hard water.  Hard water can be found in central, eastern and southern areas of England.

Water hardness can be corrected by the use of a domestic water softener.  The hard water passes through a tank containing resin beads holding ‘soft’ sodium ions.  The ‘hard’ calcium and magnesium ions are exchanged for sodium ions, thus softening the water.  When the beads have trapped all the hardness they are able to hold, the unit is recharged with salt brine to replace the hardness ions with sodium ions. The water softener is then ready to soften water again.

Taste and Odour

Tastes and odours in water do not normally cause physical problems in the home but can be very objectionable.

Tastes and odours are caused by many things including chlorine.  Common tastes and odours can be easily treated by a filter containing activated carbon.  The carbon absorbs the tastes and odours.  Minor problems can be treated by a single tap filter.

For help choosing a water softener, please give us a call or use our live chat system found to the right of the page.

Amongst the huge variety of ion exchange water softeners available in the UK there is a one question which is asked again and again, ‘which water softener is better, a single tank system or a twin tank system?’

For those people not familiar with the design of water softeners.  All ion exchange water softeners use resin beads to provide an exchange process which, as the hard water passes through the beads, takes out the calcium and magnesium from the hard water and replaces it with trouble-free sodium ions.   Some water softener systems will use a single resin vessel for this process and some use twin tank resin vessels.  All water softeners have a self cleaning process called regeneration or recharge.  This is when the water softener will wash the calcium and magenisium collected by the resin beads to drain, and recharge the resin ready to create more soft water.

As far as deciding which water softener is better, a single or a twin tank, is unusually for water softeners, not too difficult to answer; it’s a matter of performance and efficiency.

Water softeners which use twin tank systems by their very nature normally have two low capacity resin vessels which produce around 350-400 litres of soft water before they need to regenerate.  In comparison an EcoWater ESM11+ single tank system produces 2,400 litres of soft water (at 300 ppm hard water) before it needs to regenerate.

It is true that a single tank system will use more salt and water per regeneration than its twin tank counterpart, however this is counteracted by the fact that a twin tank system will regenerate much more often and therefore actually use more salt and water per 1,000 litres of soft water produced.

Costs per 1,000 ltrs of Soft Water

As you can see the twin tank systems use much more salt and water than the EcoWater ESM11+, which is not only bad for your pocket but bad for the planet.

There are also some technical issues with water softener twin tank systems which need to be considered.

As mentioned earlier twin tank systems are normally made up of two low capacity resin vessels and when one tank starts a regeneration this means a single vessel is supplying all of the water for the property and as a result you can experience flow rate issues (pressure drop-off). This will not happen with a single tank system such as the EcoWater ESM11+ as it predicts regeneration based upon your usage and will regenerate, if necessary, at 2:00am when there is no requirement for water.

Two tanks also means twice the amount of parts therefore reliability is a concern. This can be experienced as drop off in performance, water which is not fully softened or worst case scenario breakdown resulting in costly repair bills.

With the additional number of parts as well as the greater number of regenerations (more than four times as often in the example above) taken into consideration this means that the unit is working much harder and therefore life expectancy is compromised.

Twin tank systems are normally seen as advantagous because they provide 24/7 soft water and because of their size.  However, most homes are not using water 24 hours a day, and therefore, this requirement is not normally necessary.  The design can be compact and will fit into spaces that are too small for conventional water softeners but as you can see this feature comes at a cost, a significant cost over the life of a water softener.

Therefore if you have enough space then there is only one decision, single tank water softener every  time.

View some of our frequently asked questions about the water softener range

EcoWater Systems – a history of excellence

1921
Servisoft formed in Rockford, Illinois pioneered portable exchange tanks for softening water.

1925
Lynn Lindsay, founder of The Lindsay Company in St Paul, Minnesota obtains the first patent for automatic water softeners.

1933
Lynn Lindsay and his sons struggle through the depression and eventually put the operations of The Lindsay Company on hold during World War II.

1945
The Lindsay Company begins manufacturing water softeners in St Paul, Minnesota and starts to build a dealer network.

1955
The housing boom in the USA propels The Lindsay Company to its first million-dollar sales year and a new bigger facility.

1957
The Union Tank Car Company purchases The Lindsay Company

1969
Continued success makes expansion necessary. The Lindsay Company moves to a new facility.

1971
International growth accelerates with the opening of Lindsay’s European manufacturing plant in Olen, Belgium

1983
The Lindsay Company purchases the Water Refining Company of Middletown, Ohio owners of Miracle Water and Servisoft brands.

1988
EcoWater Systems Inc is formed joining three companies to become the largest manufacturer of residential water softeners.

1990
EcoWater Systems becomes the largest manufacturer of residential water softeners in the world with independent dealers spanning the globe.  In 1990 EcoWater Systems Inc purchases Permutit Domestic from Sketchley Water Softeners and EcoWater Systems UK comes into existence.  The first Permutit water softener was installed in 1911.  EcoWater Systems UK now has the best of both worlds, a long established British company combined with the expertise of a world leader.

2000
EcoWater continues to lead the industry with innovative products, including the first water softener with a wireless remote monitor.

2002
EcoWater Systems finishes a $9m expansion of its Ripley facility.

2004-6
EcoWater invests $16m in capital investments including investment in blow mold and process control technologies.

2007
EcoWater introduces the first water softener with patented Hydrolink communications technology.

2008
EcoWater introduces the only reverse osmosis drinking water filter with patented Hydrolink communications.

EcoWater today
EcoWater systems has been manufacturing water softeners since 1925 and continues to lead the way with more than 40 active patents and unparalleled quality guidelines that ensure the excellence in all our products. Product quality and an investment in R&D are hallmarks of our company.

EcoWater’s manufacturing facilities are ISO 9001 certified. This is the most prominent certification by three international organizations monitoring quality systems standards. The certification registration safeguards excellence in our products from initial specification to product design to you.

The Eco DNA: Strength in Numbers
Today EcoWater Systems is a member of Berkshire Hathaway’s Marmon Group, an international association of more than 100 autonomous manufacturing and service companies. The group is ranked number 19 on Forbes’ list of the largest privately held companies in the United States. Marmon emphasises member autonomy, lean management and investment in new state-of-the-art technology. Marmon Water, a global leader in the manufacturing of equipment to treat water comprises, in addition to EcoWater Systems, several other sector leaders in the residential, commercial and industrial water treatment and purification space.

If you would like information on any of our products please call us on: 0800 052 1120 or 01494 484 000.

If you own an EcoWater water softener, don’t worry about your soft water.  Your EcoWater water softener will keep on producing lashings of soft water, even if your home is bursting at the seams.

EcoWater’s intelligent technology measures the home’s water usage and collects information from the day it’s installed, and it keeps a history of your home’s water use.  It knows each day how much water you have used and its clever technology calculates the optimum point when to regenerate.  If you do all your laundry at the weekend it knows that and ensures you have loads of soft water to cope with the extra demand.   Therefore, if you start to use more water over the Christmas holiday than normal that’s fine, your water softener will just adapt itself and when Christmas is over and you are back to normal, it will adapt again.  EcoWater softener’s  unique intelligence provides you with the most cost efficient soft water solution and you’ll always have soft water on demand but without costing the earth.

So you can easily sneak upstairs for a lovely relaxing bubbly bath away from it all, maybe using that Christmas present of bubble bath, knowing there will be plenty of soft water for everyone.

(A new bubble bath is the one present I really look forward too!)

Merry Christmas!

Limescale in storage tank

Hard water is water that contains dissolved chalk, lime and other minerals. The affects of hard water is easy to see, scale in the kettle, scaling up of showerheads, limescale marks in the sink and loo.  However, its what you do not see that is the most troubling.  Heating systems, washing machines and dishwashers are prime targets for hard water damage.  Every year 1.5mm of scale can build up within the home.  Scale will form around the heating coil and even fill a hot water cylinder.  Its estimated that the annual amount of hard water used by an average family contains 70kg of scale!  Untreated limscale simply means wasting energy, wasting money and having to replace appliances and heating systems.

Major independent research study in the USA has concluded that water softeners are amongst the ‘very best’ household energy savers. The research was undertaken over 9 months at a cost of $700,000 and commissioned by the Water Quality Research Foundation – a not-for-profit association that provides public information about water treatment issues. The research findings back the energy saving claims by EcoWater over many years. The full report can be found at http://www.wqa.org/BatelleReport.

The study found that instantaneous gas water heaters – similar to combi boilers here in the UK – operated on softened water maintained the original factory efficiency rating over a 15 year lifetime. Softened water, the report says, saves 34% of costs compared to operating on 340ppm hard water. As a consequence of the study, the WQA, is now promoting water softeners in the USA as ‘the best energy saving device you can buy’.

This reports highlights that by installing an EcoWater domestic water softener, if you live in a hard water area of the country, you will be ‘conservatively saving up to 20% a year on your energy bills.

If you would like to find out more why not contact us.

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A domestic water softener eliminates limescale from your hard water supply.

No longer will you have to buy expensive scale reducing cleaning products and struggle to clean limescale from the taps and the residue left on shower cubicles and around the bath.  In fact if you could put a price on your time, you wont believe how much time will be saved in cleaning, especially the bathroom (and that’s written from experience!).

As soaps lather much more easily in soft water, you can reduce your washing powder and bathing products.  Also consider the savings you will make when your washing machine and central heating boiler is protected from limescale.   Over time your water softener will dissolve the limescale that’s built up within your plumbing.   This will improve the effiency of your heating system.

In fact a recent study conducted in the USA concluded that a water softener is one of the best energy saving appliances you can buy.

Here are some of the savings you will make:

• Up to 20% energy saving
• Up to 50% less washing powder
• Up to 50% less soaps, showers gels and shampoos
• 100% limescale banishing cleaning products
• Reduced breakdowns on appliances such as washing machines and boilers

The chlorine used to transport water to our homes safely often leaves an unpleasant smell and odour, which is why many of us buy bottled water.  Don’t forget that an EcoWater filter will give you great tasting water without the expense to your pocket and the planet of buying bottled water.

If you would like further information on the great benefits of fitting a water softener please contact us.
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It’s easy to look at water and see an innocent transparent liquid. It could also be true that water is the most ‘taken-for-granted’ substance in the western world. Available on tap in almost every home in the UK, this generic substance forms the basics of our lives.

However, how much about water do we understand? And importantly (the topic of this blog), what is the difference between so-called ‘hard water’ and ‘soft water’? How could hard water affect people and what solutions are available?

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Hard Water

Hard water is labelled ‘hard’ not because there’s any difference in rigidity, but because of its mineral content.  It’s a well-known fact that water takes lengthy journeys to get to our homes (the water cycle),  some rainfall will soak through the ground and in doing so the rainwater picks up minerals as it percolates through rock such as chalk and limestone, on its journey to your home’s water supply.

When water flows through certain clay-dense areas of the UK such as Kent and Sussex, it passes via calcium-rich mineral deposits like calcite and gypsum.  On the way, water collects and builds up calcium and magnesium ions in the form of Ca2+ and Mg2+. This is hard water.

About 60% of homes in the UK suffer hard water these are mainly concentrated in central, eastern and southern areas of England.

Soft Water

Rainwater is naturally soft and when it falls on hard rock it remains naturally soft.  That’s why some areas of the UK are lucky and have naturally soft water.

Softened Water

Softened water is created by removing the calcium and magnesium elements via a process known as ‘ion-exchange’. This means replacing the Ca2 and Mg2 by using a special filter or bead which exchanges the calcium and magnesium with sodium.   The amount of sodium used in the exchange process will depend on how hard the water is, but the levels are very low compared to sodium levels in food.

Effects of Hard Water in Domestic Life

The effects of hard water in domestic life can be potentially quite destructive. Because hard water contains calcium and magnesium elements, there’s often a lot of film and scum left in bathtubs, clothes are left looking a bit ‘dingy’ and spots/residue can be stained on dishes.  Furthermore, when hard water is heated to a specific temperature, it can leave behind a residue or hard scum called lime scale. This can be the cause of blocked pipes in sinks and showers, and can be quite costly.

Often the best way to deal with hard water is to pre-empt it by using domestic water softeners. Ecowater produce some of the world’s most advanced water softening systems ideal for battling the harshest of hard water.

For help choosing a water softener, please give us a call or use our live chat system found to the right of the page.

Obviously to relax in a bath of softened water – what could be better!

The Future Laboratory research shows that consumers spend 13 days a year in the bathroom, however, its the last room in the house to respond to social change.

New digital technologies could now affect our beauty and grooming rituals.

The theme and character of the room could be transformed on demand – whether simulating walking into a rainforest or showering underneath a waterfall.

With the necessity of water saving, technology can help by showing the incremental cost of water used in the bath and toilet flush immediately.

I’m pleased to say the EcoWater softener already helps because it displays the amount of water passing through the water softener, helping the homeowner to understand just how much water they are using.

So just lie back and relax for a while in luxurious EcoWater.