Hard water problems…

The majority of the UK’s water supply is drawn from the mains system, and is treated to ensure it is safe for general use and consumption. Even hard water that contains calcium and magnesium can contribute a little towards human dietary need and poses no threat to health.

The problem is hard water can make drinking and cooking water look murky, it may have floating scale particles, and it may even have an unpleasant taste or smell. Washing, cleaning and bathing with hard water is also miserable, as soaps and detergents fail to produce rich lather and soap bubbles.

Solutions

Calmag Scale Inhibitors prevent hard scale build-up in pipework, heat exchangers, boilers and mains connected water appliances. We also offer a complete range of Chemical treatments and Powerflushing machines for improving the energy efficiency and prolonging the life of your central heating system.

Calmag Water Softeners offer all the benefits of a scale inhibitor, with the added luxury of softer water for washing, cleaning and bathing. Considerable savings can also be made on the cost of expensive grooming and cleaning products.

With Calmag Water Filters you can control the taste, clarity and odour of your water for drinking and cooking. No more furring of kettles and tea and coffee and drinks taste great!

Private water supplies

If the water drawn from a private supply is intended for use by you, your family or others, and you are unsure about its quality, your local Environmental Health Service should be able to advise you on the best way to check whether it is safe for consumption.

Calmag’s Ultra Violet Disinfection is the only Calmag product suitable for treating water drawn from a private water supply.

Is softened water safe to drink?

For most people softened water is safe to drink and some actually prefer the taste of softened water. The salt (sodium) level in a glass of water softened by Calmag ion exchange Water Softeners is only 20% of the salt found in a glass of semi-skimmed milk – a can of soup typically contains 20 times more sodium than softened water. Some people may need to ensure the maintenance of a fine nutritional balance, for example, softened water is not recommended for consumption by anyone on a medically-prescribed low-sodium diet or for the preparation of powdered milk feeds, or other drinks for infants; therefore we would not recommend to drink softened water. Please read the WRAS Guidelines for Installation.

Calmag recommend the use of block salt or tablet salt for all our water softeners. Granular salt is not generally recommended as quality standards vary and some types could block the small waterways found in most water softeners.

Research into the health risks of high salt intake continues. Water Byelaws also require a separate drinking water tap to be available at ion exchange water installations, principally to allow the water company to sample the unsoftened supply as part of their routine testing. When you want to be certain that your drinking water meets your taste preference Calmag recommend the fitting of a drinking water filter kit. You can also ask your installer to leave one tap producing untreated water.