Hard Water or something else?

M

musicfan

Registered User
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Hi All

I've read all the previous posts on hard water before I posted this.........

Basically, I've just moved house in a hard water area. Everytime I use the shower, afterwards, if I take off the shower head and run high pressure cold water through it, the shower tray is covered in black / brown grit. You can see the shower head as well is caked in gritty stuff (this is a brand new shower head!) and needs to be cleaned / descaled after almost every shower.

Now I;ve lived in a hard water area, where the shower head would need to be cleaned after a couple of weeks - but where I am now, cleaning the shower head every day seems excessive.

Could this be just a case of extremely hard water or has anybody any ideas of what else may be the cause?

Thanks
 
Is your water tank in the attic covered? I bought an old house where the water tank was very old (starting to rust here and there inside despite galvanisation) and it had no cover. There was a significant layer of rust/muck sediment in the bottom, some of which would occasionally come through in the water. Short-term, I drained and cleaned the tank, then covered it. Long-term, I needed a new tank because the old one had been rusting away.
 
Tank in attic is not covered as far as I'm aware. Also, I'm almost sure its a plastic tank (will have to get OH to go up and have a look to confirm!). If it was plastic, I presume there could still be dirt and sediment in it as its not covered.

Is it much hassle to drain the tank? Would I need to get a plumber in?

As I said I know I am living in a hard water area - but could the problem just be really really hard water?
 
musicfan said:
Is it much hassle to drain the tank? Would I need to get a plumber in?
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No. Tie/wedge the tank ballcock up so that it does not refill the tank as the water level falls and then run the bathroom cold taps and flush the jacks until it drains off. Maybe use the water for something useful (e.g. watering the garden or storing it for same) rather than waste it?
 
but could the problem just be really really hard water?
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I had something similar, had to clean the shower head every 2-3 days and had exactly what you describe, brown gritty stuff coming out of the shower. The biggest problem was with an electric shower, but the normal shower was pretty bad too.

I fitted a water softner and the problem went away - ergo it was the hard water!

Gtec
 
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Gtec said:
I fitted a water softner and the problem went away - ergo it was the hard water!

Gtec
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What water softener / company did you use? Or how much did it cost to purchase / install. I was looking at one place - aquaeuro.ie - but it was approx €500 to purchase and then we would have to pay for a plumber to install. It would cost about €10 a month to buy the salt. I don't know if this would be any good though as some other companies seem to charge a lot more
 
I got mine from aquaeuro, this model:
Water Softener EM Midi Meter Controlled 10 litre With Free 15mm Fitting Kit

I installed it myself, but it should not cost too much to get a plumber to do it as it is a simple job, and that model will fit under a kitchen sink (assuming your plumbing is in the right place for that).

I use approximatly 1 bag of salt a month, but my water is very hard. The salt costs about 9 euro a bag if I remeber correctly.

It is an expense, but without it you will end up replacing washing machines, electric showers, immersions etc.

Hope that helps
Gtec

 
What type of shower have you? are you sure it is being fed from the storage tank? about half the models are fed directly from the mains.
 
DavyJones said:
What type of shower have you? are you sure it is being fed from the storage tank? about half the models are fed directly from the mains.
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How would I know where it is being fed from - sorry if thats a stupid question. I'm just presuming its been fed from the storage tank.

Thanks
 
Sounds like the hard water to me. We recently had a water filter installed by a plumber from Wexford, total cost €850 which included some neat work on his part trying to get the filter to fit in the extremely awkward and small-sized kitchen presses they install in new builds nowadays. Anyway, kettle is shining - after a couple of years of buildup of whatever hardness (probably lime) in the water, and showering is a joy - the soft water makes for lovely rich lather. Other benefits include the knowledge that all the pipes and plumbing fittings in the house are not being destroyed gradually by the hard water passing though them. The salt costs us €7.50 for 25 Kilos from the Farmers Mart in Gorey (if you go to the hardware shops you'll get charged at least 25% more for exactly the same product) - and lasts for about 6 weeks.
 
musicfan said:
How would I know where it is being fed from - sorry if thats a stupid question. I'm just presuming its been fed from the storage tank.

Thanks
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Cut the water at the mains and see if it keeps working. Or run it for a bit and check to see if the attic tank water level falls and it starts refilling.
 
Our plumber has just fitted a Calmag Calcombi 15/22mm scale inhibitor on to the feed into our combi boiler (cost £34.90 +VAT + fitting) to combat the build up of scale in the hot water pipes. He thinks it will reduce the amount of limescale in the system and hence avoid the problem identified by the OP. It is a totally self contained unit and needs no salt (don't ask me how it works) and comes with a lifetime guarantee.
At the price I'd have thought it worth a try.
 
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