Going back twenty years or more, the general assumption was that water softeners DID use masses of extra water and that they were an unnecessary drain on a precious natural resource.

But, as with any industry, technology has moved on and put a real dampener on that argument.

Nowadays, the majority of bona fide softeners that are made by approved, accredited and reliable manufacturers are extremely efficient in terms of the amount of water they use. This is reassuring to know, especially at times when rainfall is scarce, the reservoirs are low and there are drought warnings in place.

As an example, thanks to technology, the whole water softener regeneration process is automated by control valves, which respond according to the amount of water that each individual home uses. This is the aspect of water softeners where additional water consumption comes in to play.

Quality water softeners these days don’t needlessly regenerate as a matter of course –– instead they use as little extra water as possible to perform the task. It’s all highly organised and isn’t down to guesswork due to intelligent metering systems!

What’s probably more to the point is that your household is likely to consume MORE if you rely on the hard (unsoftened) supply that comes from the mains. You’ll tend to use more water for washing, bathing and showering – and keeping the home clean – because soaps, shampoos and detergents don’t interact nearly as well with hard water as they do with soft. This means you need to use more cleaning solutions (and more water) than would be required for the same effect with soft water.

So, in conclusion, you needn’t worry about your water softener wasting gallons of water and that it is indulgent and irresponsible to have one installed in your home – if anything the opposite is true, so you have no need to worry.

If you are interested in having a soft water system installed in your property, please contact the area’s number one local supplier, SJ Water Softeners on01243 607494 or via email: scott@sjbs.info