Softened Water has been proven to NOT cause corrosion in aluminium heat exchangers

Report released in Woking, December 2012.

Since the 1980s, there has been disagreement within the professional water heating sector about the use of softened water in central heating systems with aluminium heat exchangers. The water softener manufacturers say that you can use softened water, while some of the chemical inhibitor manufacturers say you cannot.

To settle the argument, in March 2012 Harvey Water Softeners got together with other members of the UKWTA (United Kingdom Water Treatment Association) and commissioned BSI (British Standards Institute) to carry out a test and prove, once and for all, who was correct.

The results were announced by Harvey Bowden, the Chairman of Harvey Water Softeners, at the HHIC Annual Conference during the parliamentary reception at the House of Commons on Wednesday 28th November 2012.

The report states that, “Over the lifetime of a modern central heating system, filling with base-exchange softened hard mains water would appear to present no significantly greater risk of corrosion of system metals than filling with hard mains water”.

So one question remains : why there was confusion in the first place... was there another source of corrosion not accused? - further updates coming soon.

Harvey is a trusted brand of water softeners and has spent many years perfecting the brand - a trusted seller of Harvey equipment is Spectrum Softeners.

Water Softener Reviews - Comparing the Best

Hello Shoppers! Like many of us, you're probably a little bit unsure which water softener to go for, so we thought we'd add some customer reviews - good and bad -  for the top 10 best softeners on the market today, for you to have a look at, before you buy. 

UK's Top 10 Water Softeners  

We've spoken to plenty of domestic clients about their experiences with the units they buy from us, and how they found the DYI installation. All our customers were asked, in this instance, to give an 'out of 5 rating' and tell us one good thing and one critique about each softener - This is what they've said:

1. Crown Softener Review - £753.94 Buy Now
• Rating 5/5
• Claire, Cheshire: "I chose this softener for a few reasons, because the salt is great value and because you don't need to plug it in - the only downside I can find is that it didn't seem to have clear controls - until I worked out that it was automatic softener!!"  
• (click here to read full Crown review from us!)
2. Crown Ultra  Softener Review - £1,095.00 Buy Now
• Rating 4/5
• Jake, Liverpool: "The good part is how much this softener produced water-wise [flow-rate]. I have a big family; 4 children, and needed a lot more than the standard softeners offer. The bad part is that it's a fair bit more [£££] compared to the others I'd looked at, but it's worth it in my case!"
3. Coral Softener Review - £348.67 Buy Now
• Rating 4/5
• Lara, Sussex: "I found it value for money, and great for my skin and hair since I'm quite sensitive to the hard water ion my area. I would definitely recommend having a plumber install it - I found quite difficult and had a plumber come and connect it in the end"
4. Swan Softener Review - £414.30 Buy Now
• Rating 5/5
• Kate, London: "Great for my home since it's a decent price and had a range of larger sizes - I got a 30 litre timer one for great money and it works fine. I like that it takes tablet salt too, it's less fussy. I did have to wait a couple of weeks for it though, since it's a 'made to order' one [softener]"
5. Home Water Softener Review - £466.44 Buy Now
• Rating 4/5
• Andrew, Devon : "It's one of the slightly more expensive ones, but it came with an installation kit included so I was happy about that - I found it easy to fit too, with a little bit of elbow grease and a youtube video - job done! Just got to make sure you shut the water off before you start chopping into anything! Nothing bad really, but they are a bit expensive"
6. Delta Softener Review - £550.20 Buy Now
• Rating 3/5
• Indigo, Birmingham: "I liked it because it has an install kit included and it's non-electric, but I found that, when I received it and went to put it in, I had to drill a hole to connect the overflow - this is apparently a feature of the unit, since the brine tank and valve[s] swivels to three different positions, so you can get it into compact spaces (another reason for buying) and you wouldn't want three different holes in the softener, but I found it quite annoying! So beware to all of those who purchase this one, you'll need a small drill!! "
7. Domestic Fleck Softener Review - £458.64 Buy Now
• Rating 5/5
• Rachel, Leicester: "I got this because we have a big duplex 'Fleck' softener at work - they're not really glamorous or anything but they're really reliable since the make is an industrial one, primarily; works well for me!"
8. Mistral Softener Review - £363.88 Buy Now
• Rating 4/5
• Gary, Hertfordshire: "I hate parting with my money, so I was looking for the very best deal I could - this seemed like the best thing I could find, so I went for it, Installed it myself, and it's been fine. Took me a while to get a hand of the 'regeneration' business, but I got round that pretty quickly"
9. Pallas Duo Mini Softener Review - £1,009.58 Buy Now
• Rating 5/5
• Anna, Bradford: "Oooh I love my softener! It's such a better looking model than the ones you usually see too, so I'm not embarrassed when people see it in my kitchen - I love the display, and the slider compartment. In general, I was looking for s duplex one, and this one really caught my eye. I didn't install it myself, since it looked quite complicated"
10. Pallas Duo Maxi Softener Review - £1,165.23 Buy Now
• Rating 5/5
• Oscar, Hampshire: "Brilliant for my house - we have a big home with en suites, so needed a good one. The top is great and easy to use. Very expensive though"