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SOFTLY, SOFTLY IN LEAFY HERTS!
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There’s no denying the attractiveness of Hertfordshire as a place to live, apart perhaps from the hardness of the water that comes out of the water mains and untreated, can lead to significant problems from limescale build up around the home. And as well as limescale where you can see and experience it – in kettles, in shower heads, on shower screens and down loos, in washing machines and dishwashers, it can cause grief where you can’t see it – in the heating system in particular, where limescale build up in the boiler on the heat exchanger, and in the pipework and valves around the system, can reduce the efficiency of the heating system, see more gas or oil being used with consequential higher bills and of course the potential for higher maintenance bills when the limescale eventually causes blockages.
So if you’re looking to build a large, brand new home in leafy Hertfordshire, it makes sense to plan in something that gives you peace of mind, knowing that as a result of it, you won’t suffer from limescale build up – anywhere in the property.
Tucker French Plumbing & Heating Merchants are leading bathroom specialists in the Home Counties and have been supplying high quality bathroom and associated products since 2000. The Watford branch was asked by the owners of a brand new six bedroom property close by, to specify the fittings in the six bathrooms in their new home and as well as specifying the aesthetic components that made the bathrooms look fantastic, they also specified some additional components that would keep them looking that good. In particular, they specified a Tapworks water softener.
Andy Tucker says that there’s very little as depressing as seeing a stunning, brand new luxury bathroom – that a few weeks later is already looking the worse for wear as a result of the hard water that has not been addressed in the design stage: “We regularly specify water softeners because we have seen the damage that limescale can do – and in some parts of the Home Counties, the water is very hard indeed and damage can begin within weeks of the new installation getting used. In this project it was clear that we needed a reliable water softener that would address the limescale issues from the outset and the owners of the new property accepted our recommendation to install a Tapworks AD15 water softener unit that softens the water for the whole house apart from one tap in the kitchen which delivers untreated mains water as is recommended by regulations.”
The Tapworks water softener was installed by Stuart Wilson, senior engineer at Capital Heating in Watford: “We’re installing more and more softeners in this part of the world, for people who recognise that they have hard water and want to do something about it. For many, it’s the quality of life factor that is key – people like the feel of softened water, nicer feeling skin and shinier hair and some people anecdotally say that softened water has a beneficial effect on young children’s skin problems, such as eczema and psoriasis. For others they recognise quickly the reduction in cleaning that’s needed when you have one fitted and the lower bills for cleaning materials, shampoo and soap products – all of which can be cut in half when you have softened water. But for nearly all our customers that install a water softener, it’s the lower heating bills that they see that makes the real difference with bills at least 15% lower than pre-water softener installation, which all helps to see the water softener paying for itself within about two years – and there aren’t too many appliances you can say that about!”
The Tapworks AD15 is the largest domestic water softener in the Tapworks range, selected because of the size of the property – six bedrooms with additional out buildings – and has been installed in the boiler/plant room on the side of the property. Tapworks offers a range of softeners to meet the water softening needs of every size home from a small apartment where you can have a softener that fits neatly into a standard kitchen cabinet – to a huge home, and then has a range of softeners for commercial use as well – many laundries, hotels and the like have water softeners on a much larger scale, for the same reasons most people have them in their homes – to stop limescale damage and to reduce costs.
“We’re delighted that our unit was specified by Andy Tucker for this project,” says Brett Benson, Tapworks national sales manager. “It’s a very prestigious new build project in an equally prestigious part of the country and our AD15 will contribute towards keeping limescale at bay in the property and to reducing heating costs. It’s very rewarding in these tougher economic times to see sales of our softeners holding up well, and we’re sure this reflects the growing awareness of the savings that investment in a water softener can bring to the family budget.”
More information on Tapworks water softeners and hard water can be found at www.tapworks.co.uk. Or you can call for more information on 01494 480 621.
