Friday 20 April 2012

How to Save Water Using a Water Softener


Kennet Water just posted a very interesting article - 

"Hosepipe bans, officially called temporary use bans, came into effect in seven water companies on the 5th April. Saving water has therefore become a very newsworthy item and an equally worthy goal for everyone to aim for.

Water softeners can help to save water as they make household tasks like cleaning and washing easier by eliminating lime scale and reducing the amount of detergent needed. This is in addition to the recognised benefits in energy saving in heating systems.

In new dwellings, design water consumption is limited to 125 l/person/day Where a water softener is installed, the calculation of the water for regeneration is ignored if it is 4% or less of the softened water produced. This recognises the low carbon footprint of an efficient water softener"
It seems its getting more and more important, environmentally, to save our water, and since water softeners lessen overall use anyway, I would definitely recommend using this Water Saving Coral Softener (low-regen), to reduce use even further.Not only does it have all the great benefits of softened water come with it, but it also has one of the lowest prices on the market today, usually starting at £424!Take a closer look at the model spec, and buy online here

Thursday 12 April 2012

Legionellosis Training in Stoke and Kent June 2012


Legionella Awarness Training – Book Now!

Water Hygiene Course in Stoke and Kent
Spectrum News Bulletin 11/04/2012



Legionellosis Awareness Training is an important part of your Water Hygiene program. We know some of you need to take the training course, so we’re offering our customers the great rate of £70 per person, and your second delegate for only £55 for this event!*
Bookings will be taken until May 23rd 2012
Early booking is advisable, since the course is devoted to a limited number of delegates per session. If you cannot download the booking form, send an email to the Event Organiser, Lydia Bradburn, as soon as possible, so that we can send you the PDF form manually.
Courses are to be held at:



The half-day course will include parking, unlimited tea, coffee and biscuits; The delegates have the choice of morning or afternoon courses, due to start at 10:00am and 1:00pm.
If you are unsure you need to attend this training, please call our friendly team, or check your latest Spectrum Risk Assessment, under the ‘Remedials’ section.



Course Agenda:

×          Questionnaire (Part A)
×          Introduction Video
×          Legionella in the News
×          Legionella and Water Quality General Awareness
×          Legislation in the UK
×          Responsibilities and Communication
×          Record Keeping
×          Competency and Training
×          Legionella Risk Management
×          Water Management in Practice
×          Monitoring of Water Systems
×          Questionnaire (Part B)

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*The first delegate must pay the full price of £70.00 and a second delegate will then receive the offer of £55.00 when attending the same training session. This offer applies to subsequent delegates, i.e., if two delegates pay the full price of £70.00, two further delegates will receive the discounted price of £55.00. This offer is for customers only; however, any persons wishing to attend this course who are not already Spectrum clients, £70.00 per delegate is applicable. VAT is included within these prices.
Want to know more about us?
You've seen only the tip of the iceburg -- let us show you more. Get connected with us, pick up the phone & give us a call or drop by our offices between 8:30am and 5:00pm!



www.spectrum-env.co.uk -
www.spectrum-softeners.co.uk -
- TEL: 0870 729 0199 -


Thursday 5 April 2012

What is a 'Duplex' water softener?

It's not always the most straight forward of things, buying a softener. The most frequent question is, "what is a duplex?"

The best way to describe this is to explain a simplex softener first - the 'simplex' describes a single vessel within the softener.

The picture to the right, shows a model with two vessels (the two dark blue canisters) ; this is known as a duplex model.

The simplex softeners were the first ones on the market; These need time to 'regenerate' the resin. Or, in lamens terms, to soak up all the sodium goodness into the small resin beads, before the softening process starts again. This limits the use of your softener, but only on occasion. There are many ways to get around that, one is to use a 'timer' softener (which we will link to another post shortly) and the other is to invest in a 'duplex'.

A duplex softener only uses one canister/vessel at a time, so one of them has a full chance to 'regenerate' before needing to be used - it's a feature that ensures soft water is being made 24/7, and is the choice most people make when deciding to buy a softener.

This is what happens when a softener regenerates...

Crown Block Salt Water Softener Review


The block salt softener everyone's raving about... The Crown and the Crown Ultra - We'll we're going to review them since we've fitted and tested a bunch of them!

Hopefully we'll address some questions you may have about this softener brand too.

OK, a bit about us - you wouldn't want to take advice from just anyone now, would you? - We're water treatment professionals - so when talking chemistry, we think this softener is one of the greatest for softening your water at home since it softens even the hardest water we've come across.
Being a 'duplex' softener, they run around the clock, and since they run on block salt, you'll never wonder whether its time to top up on salt or not, unlike some traditional softeners - it'll be completely obvious! Since it's quite easy to damage a softener if you forget to top-up with salt, the block salt softeners are definitely the best ones.

Of all of them, these are super easy to fit too - they only require a DIY fitting kit that you could buy for about £30-£70 extra, and (helpfully) fitting a softener couldn't be easier with all the tutorials and manuals you can get a hold of on the internet. (Pssst, by the way, we'll upload a few fitting videos for y'all soon...)

The Crown is manufactured in the UK, and promises quality and affordability - bearing in mind this machine will last several years, usually coming with a long warranty which makes the prices look even more tempting, but there are other excellent benefit to investing in this particular model...

Softeners, in general, save money by reducing the amount of cleaning products you use; for example, when having a bath, and shampooing your hair, you would only need to use a small amount with soft water since it suds-up really quickly - or when doing the washing up, and the bubbles just disappear with hard water... or when your scrubbing scale off your shower with an expensive descaler product... The Crown softens even the hardest water, reducing the use of your household cleaning product use to the maximum amount. What we're getting is that, across the softeners lifetime with you, it will have paid for itself !

There are a million good things about this softener we could talk about! Including an amazing flow rate, and the benefits your skin hair and nails feel when bathing in soft water... The only thing I would ever pick on, is the fact that the size of the unit only makes it applicable to homes that have around 1-2 bathrooms.


But I guess I cant complain about that anymore since they brought out the Crown Ultra - a nice big softener for large homes, that has the same benefits.

If you're thinking about a softener, we would have to give this one 10/10. It's simply brilliant.