If possible use the soft water for all. Good for the appliance's lifespan.

Why do you want hard water for drinking and boiling? I don't understand why you want hard water at all, if you're getting a softener?

We have a Quooker which does hot/cold water, drinking and boiling and it all comes from the one single feed. It is designed to be a single feed only.

Whereas a lot of other boiling water taps, have a dual hot/cold feed, which is where the hot water comes from, whereas with the Quooker, the hot water is made in the unit, along with the boiling water. It also has a sale control, which doesn't exactly "soften" the water, but it does, well......control the scale!

I meant to add that I understand that you can use soft water to supply the Quooker unit.

Thanks for your comments! The reason I want hard water for drinking is because I have read it is better to drink hard than soft water. given the hot water will also be used for tea etc, I thought it would be best to have this hard as well?

Eat 6 almonds a day (and broccoli) and you'll get plenty of calcium ;)

In my experience, hard water creates scum on the top of tea and other hot drinks and I've never heard of hard water being better to drink than soft.

The hardness is caused by calcium and magnesium, which presumably is obtainable from a balanced diet, so unnecessary in the water.

I cannot think of one single application for which hard water is better, to be honest.

I know some people don't like the taste of softened water if drinking it cold, however I don't think most notice it when boiled, in tea, coffee etc.

Only other solution I could see, is I know some people have a separate unsoftened drinking water tap, which is what my parents have... They don't have a boiling water tap, but had a water softener which did not taste good, to the point where they bought bottled water to drink at home! but have recently got a drinking water tap installed.

Good info, Lifestyle Kitchens! Thanks

Thanks Lifestyle kitchens - I have also been googling and the first few articles state that hardened water contains minerals which we need which is why it is better to drink.

after discussions at my local plumbing shop, I have decided to go for a 4 in 1 tap. the hot and cold will be soft (for washing dishes etc), then I will have a filtered hard water feed for both drinking water and boiling water

thanks to everyone for all of the advice!

Can I ask which one it is you're thinking of getting?

Yes sure. I went with the Qettle 4 in 1 which can be purchased for £500 from Amazon. Again, I did a ton of research and this was half the price of some of the more established brands like Franke Omni or Quooker 4 in 1. It has great reviews and also heats the water to 100 degrees which a lot of the other cheaper alternatives do not. I am having it installed next week so fingers crossed all goes well!

Yea, I’m being really indecisive about it... would love one, but the cost upsets me slightly.. then the additional cost of replacing the filters every few months..

Plus we live in a really hard water area, we’re not planning on a softener really and worry how much limescale will develop in a super expensive tap!

But would also love to remove the kettle and britta filter from the worktop! (I’m going in circles!)

Kam B, how much does this Qettle use annually in standby? And how much to heat up?

I mean, sometimes it's better to buy one like Quooker, because it requires less electricity in the long run.

I know what you mean Rinq I’m also trying to look at filter cost and how often they need to be replaced...

But also feel that for the cost of a filter I could just buy a new kettle... also wonder about if something breaks and needs repairing! But do really want one! Lol maybe I should get a water softener!?

Gabby - I was in exactly the same situation. no one really needs one, but it's a nice to have and from all of the reviews I've read, nobody regrets the decsion.

The qettle filters are 30 quid each and replaced every 6 months. The filters also prevent the build up of limescale etc. I would check out the reviews on the Amazon page as well as checking out the Qettle website which has some handy YouTube videos.

I must stress I don't actually have the tap yet but this is what i did before purchasing for peace of mind. :-)

Did you know induction hobs are the most efficient when it comes to boiling water? Just use an oldfashioned steel kettle.

No expensive filters, just a regular boil with some vinegar. :)

Yea, the filters are definitely cheaper than a lot of others Kam,

Can I ask how much your water softener is going to be? I had a bit of a google but I was struggling to find prices as opposed to "Leave details for a free quote"... Is it the kind with salt blocks? You're now making me wonder whether that is something else I should have considered

They are pretty expensive. The market leaders are kinetico and harveys and a softener from either of these companies will cost you around £1500. There is also the cost of replacing salt which I think is about a tenner a month.

There are cheaper alternatives out there. My local plumbing shop recommended Monarch which are about half the price and come with a 7 year warranty. Amazon have got loads of cheaper ones too around the £500 mark but I'm not sure how good these are.

Hope that helps!

Thank you for that! It's really useful to know. I think it'll end up on the list of things to consider later down the line realistically! (and then maybe never happen) Although I guess I could do the same with the hot water tap!

You dont need a softener to have a hot water tap :-) the 2 are very independent

Oh yes, I did realise that, just thinking which is "more important" and costs/preferences timing of installation etc.

What about a water conditioner? Met Halcyan Water at the NSBRC some years ago. Unknown to Halcyan I rang a hair salon where one had been installed to get an unbiased review. The guy I spoke with, not the owner, was impressed. Reviews online seem positive.

I like the idea of it, but had an electromagnetic one in a flat I lived In before and the water in my area is sooooo hard it felt like it did nothing!
So not sure it would be enough unfortunately

Hi Kam, how are you getting on with the softener and 4 in 1 tap please? We had our kitchen done early this year and had a Franke Omni 4-1 fitted, which is great, but now looking to have our bathroom done and fed up with the limescale etc so thinking of getting a water softener, but not sure if it will be difficult now that we already have the tap installed. Would the softener need to go under the sink where the tap tank is? Thanks in advance

Hi Carly, I am really glad I went for the 4 in 1 tap as well as the softener. The hot water tap has been used so much due to the lockdown so pleased we went for this back in 2019. The softener is great too, we don't get any limescale now which has kept the taps etc looking like new. We had the softener installed straight to a megaflo system (big water cylinder) but it can probably go next to your sink as well. The best thing to do will be to contact an installer and they can come over for a free quote and assess where it can be fitted. We went for the kinetico which was fitted by Hawker Softeners and they were first class. Kinetico is a bit premium but comes with a long warranty (10 years I think) so you have piece of mind.

Thanks very much. We have a Megaflo as well so actually would have room in the cupboard where that is. Guess the installer would sort out how it connects to the tap, just didn’t know how best to go about that, ie don’t have it connected to the drinking water part.
I love the 4-1 tap, so glad we got it!

I spent ages reading up about this! So we have got the soft water for both normal hot and cold. This is used for washing dishes and your hands etc. And then the hard water feed for the filtered drinking water and the boiling water. This is because I read its better to drink hard water than soft. I hope that helps!

Yes it does, thanks so much!

Maybe a scale remover might suit ? A client told me about this one recently - am actually now getting one installed myself ! https://monarchwater.co.uk/our-products/domestic/domestic-scale-prevention/

Thank you, will take a look. All of our taps have got limescale build up, shower screen never quite looks gleaming even after using Viakal etc, so as we have just had our kitchen done earlier this year and will be completely replacing our bathroom in the spring, I am thinking of the water softener to avoid all of that going forward with the new stuff. Will look at costs etc, may I ask how much this system is costing you? Thanks

Quotes were between £460 - £600 installed

Thanks

Hi OnePlan/Karen, you helped us a few years ago to design our kitchen extension- your advice was great and we love living in it! We also have a Quooker tap and as we are in London lime scale is a real problem. I’m interested to find out more about the Monarch Water device, did you see any reviews etc? Thanks!

Hi Jenny [waves] so pleased you love it !!!
Not had mine installed yet - a client the other week mentioned it - I asked my friendly bathroom supplier who’s sorted out a chap to come over and fit one when he’s got a spare moment for me ! ( everyone’s really busy at the moment )

Have those with 4 in 1 boiling taps, like qettle, in a hard water area found that they don't get any scum/film on their tea? And how long do the filters last, do they last the 6 months?

I have a water softener at the moment but am looking at the 4 in 1 taps to go alongside it.

I live in a hard area and don't get any scum on our tea. With the tap I have its very difficult to know how long the filter actually lasts because there is no way of measuring it or seeing when it's empty. We change it every 6 months though as this is the recommended time frame. The filters cost about 25 quid. Hope that helps.

Thanks, sounds good. If its lasting the 6 months that's good, I find you generally know when the filter needs changing as the film/scum comes back on the tea or round the inner edge of the cup.

Can I ask which tap do you have?

I’ve got the Frankie Omni 4-1 tap, there is a red light which comes on to indicate the filter needs changing. It lasted 6 months and the replacement filter was £40. I do still get a bit of film on tea to be honest but think we have quite hard water, which is why I want to get the water softener done

Thanks Carly, our water is very hard here too.

We have the Monarch Midi water softener and its amazing. No more limescale on taps, no need to clean shower heads, well worth the investment I think.

I have also tried drinking softened water and it tastes ok to me ! They do say if you have heart issues, pregnant or a few other medical conditions then you shouldn't drink it though.

No limescale, scum or film with the softened water through the kettle either.

Hi Kam B. I've been doing research on Water softeners and 4 in 1 taps and came across this. Very informative. Can I ask if you have two water lines going to your kitchen sink. One with softened water for hot and cold washing etc. One with hard water fed through a qettle filter. Thanks Aideen

Hi Aideen, I went for a Franke 4-1 tap last March, and this March had a Kinetico water softener put in, had the softened water line attached to the ‘normal’ hot and cold and kept original hard water for the filtered cold/boiling side of the tap. All good.
With the water softener you can literally feel the difference immediately, at first when washing my hands I almost felt like I had to keep rinsing as it felt so creamy! Huge difference to the limescale, the shower head which usually would get clogged up is completely clear, no more pinging off the limescale from the rubber bits!! Definitely makes a difference to cleaning the bath, sink etc, very glad we had it done. Shampoo lathers up without using much, and skin feels softer. Was £1600, so it’s not cheap but I don’t regret it one bit.

Hi, looking at getting softener put in but have been quoted £2400. Can I ask where you got your monarch softener and who installed it? Thanks

I used a Kinetico block salt water softener for many years and it works amazingly well. However salt block are quite expensive. Approximately 10 years ago I changed over to a unit produced by Tapworks not are they only cheaper to buy but you can use salt tablets which are also much cheaper in comparison to blocks. The end result is that we gets pretty much the same amazing soft water. In terms of drinking soft water well there is a lot of debate about the amount of sodium content in the soft water. Drinking soft water is entirely dependent on how hard your water is in your particular part of the country. There is a specific number of calcium carbonate in parts per million which if your area exceeds this figure then you are advised not to drink the softened water. High sodium levels can lead to hypertension which is one of the reasons why your doctor suggests that you reduce your salt intake if you have been diagnosed with hypertension. If anyone has used a water softener and you will soon realise that after a while the area where place the salt tablets or salt block can become dirty and needs to be cleaned. If this is the same water which is then coming through your kitchen sink and you are drinking it then there is also the hazard of infections. This is just my speculation but those that own water softeners for long enough will realise what I’m stating. So in my opinion use softened water for the shower, bath, dishwasher, washing machine and washing up in the sink and have a separate mains and softened water for drinking.