A water softener is a great investment for your home and once you’ve enjoyed the benefits, there is no going back! Whilst a good quality water softener will last a number of years, on occasion they can go wrong so you may wonder what is the best option: Repair or upgrade?
Repair
If you’ve noticed the signs of hard water around your home creeeping back, like scale build up and water marks, it’s a sure sign that your water softener is not working as it should. The good news is that we often get old installations working efficiently again and by having your system repaired, rather than replaced, you can save yourself having to fork out hundreds of pounds for a new one. Sometimes however, due to the age, number of parts or availability of parts, it is just not cost effective to repair your existing water softener. If your water softener is reaching the end of its life, a repair can certainly help keep it going a little longer but like with anything, sometimes its just really not worth the investment. Don’t forget also that with an upgrade you will receive a new warranty for several years which gives you peace of mind for any future costs.
Upgrade
We find that a lot of the issues we see on our call outs to older water softeners are often pretty common. These can include drain/shuttle valve failure, the symptom of which is that the water softener will be constantly running to the drain. One of the big problems with this is that you could end up with a huge water bill. We’ve had a couple of call outs this year where this has been the case. In fact, one customer’s machine was running to drain for around 6 months, used over 1 million litres of water and left them with an eye watering £2k water bill! Not just this, older softeners often do not have a correctly fitted overflow which can result in flooding, ruined kitchen units, insurance claims and delays in having a new kitchen fitted. Like everything, there have been many key improvements to the technology and design of water softeners over the past 10-15 years. Pressure vessels are now made in a tall and thin shape to give an even distribution through the resin, meter accuracy is better and there is a more accurate brine rinse (in particular in Ecowater designs). There have also been advances in smart, wifi technology which you can find on Ecowater models as well as the Minimax Innova. Our range of water softeners are manufactured by the top 3 brands, Kinetico, Ecowater and Harvey (Minimax). All of these are designed and manufactured to a high quality with long warranties and life spans. Upgrading to one of these models will ensure you will continue to enjoy quality softened water for many years to come.
We’re here to help
As water softener experts with over 30 years of experience in the industry, we have worked on every system imaginable. It doesn’t even matter if you bought your water softener from us or someone else. If you have a problem with it and need it repaired or replaced immediately, just give us a call. We will be delighted to help.
We are always happy to talk you through your options so please get in touch with us today for more information!