water softening

Clack meter controlled water softeners cope with variable numbers of occupants from 1 person up to 100 persons on the hardest of waters.  Because no single day of domestic water use is the same, this makes metered water softeners the only sensible choice. Saving up to 80% water and 70% salt of smaller outdated timer based water softeners.

Clack water softeners are commercial grade water softener systems available in Ireland outranking the nearest competitors by extremely wide margins.  Easily beating all other brands including Autotrol, Fleck, Hague, Culligan, Eerie, Kinetico, Ionics, Siata, and Asian made copies of older US valve designs.

We supply Clack water softeners using the highest food grade monospheric resin made by Lanxess in Germany.  This allows our water softeners to cope with some of the most adverse water conditions.

Mains or well water is directed via the Clack valve into the resin bed within the pressure vessel.  All calcium and magnesium ions plus a wide range of undesirable ions cling to the negative charged Lanxess polymer resin beads leaving the water free of water hardness (lime) also reducing iron, manganese, heavy metals, radium, aluminium, ammonium and variable levels of dirt, sediment and organics.

Clack systems automatically measure water used.  They compile a rolling 63 day diagnostic water use pattern within the microprocessor.  This predicts the early morning backwash of the resin bed.  If a lot of water was used or leaks caused by faulty toilet cisterns, a same day wash can be selected.

The Clack water softener may only regenerate on a 28 day interval or decide upon a period between the average 12 to 14 days, all variable and constantly self correcting based on accurate internal water metering using a Hall pulse sensor and Clack’s astonishingly reliable and proven microprocessor controls.

You’ve probably heard about the benefits of perfectly softened water, squeaky clean, soft and silky, all the usual sales patter about saving on detergents, no scum on baths, energy savings, savings on plumbing bills and cleaning.  Well, it is all true, and water softeners are actually proven by the recent independent multi million dollar - Battelle Water Softener Study - to be the greenest household energy savings devices.

General System Info (10x24 through 10x54 series):

Min Water pressure : 18 psi        Max Water pressure : 125 psi        Voltage:  230 volts  (3 pin plug)

Daily capacity regen : 2,350 to 7,500 Ltrs of softened water based on 400 ppm down to 200 ppm hardness

Weekly capacity : 16,450 to 52,500 litres soft water        Galway Family Average : 1,750 litres per week

Average regeneration period  2 to 3 weeks                      Average annual salt bill : 4.5 bags or 30 euros

No exposed metal parts - lifetime rust free service          Anti-shear sensor - sail through any ice siezures

Soft water brining - no internal blockages, clean tanks    Best auto diagnostic controls on the market

User manual built into valve - no other valve has this      Best build quality, warranty, reliability of all valves

Estimated system life 30 to 40 years - lifetime use          Health check from 10 years   Service from 20 years

Water softeners are the longest established effective household water treatment devices on the global water treatment market.  In the era of steam power, UK and US firms discovered water softening could help steam engines beset by scale.  Early UK pioneers Kennicott (1902) and Permutit (1908) were followed by Clack, Culligan and later GE and Siemens.  Water softeners then became high-tech after the war years when synthetic resin based water softeners were introduced. 

Also see ...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_softening

Water softener systems are now understood to be possibly the most cost effective energy saving devices within the household plumbing system. No other household plumbed device comes close to the energy savings of a water softener, or does the cost of any other plumbed system get re-paid within the time frame of water softeners.  Only water softener systems are guaranteed to fully soften water at the lowest possible lifetime costs for users, typically at the running cost of just one or two restaurant steak dinners per year, using a meter softener.

Water softeners formed the backbone of green energy saving devices since their inception, keeping heating systems free from scale especially around copper cylinder spiral coils in heating systems.  Water softening is the removal of dissolved limestone from hard water, exchanging problem ions with harmless ions.  Limescale causes plumbing damage by hard scale build up, staining and the problems of itchy skin, badly washed hair and poor results in washing clothes.

Modern softeners utilise flow monitoring and memory functions, recording performance, monitoring water volumes, backwash and peak water flows over the life of the system.  Water softeners are sealed with negatively charged long life food grade polymer resin that cause positive calcium ions in hard water to cling to the resin over a period of time. The water softener then calculates when to wash off the lime, chloride ions and excess sodium ions out into a waste water pipe using just very few sodium ions to regenerate the resin. Water softener systems do not discharge any hazards to bio or septic systems and do not impart sodium chloride as such to household water supplies.

There is zero sodium chloride in softened water - just trace levels of sodium, often below the level found in officially "low sodium" beverages such as supermarket colas and lemonades and close to the level of many bottled waters.  In short, even 1000 litres of softened water would not yield enough sodium to fill a tea spoon and because there are no chlorides in softened water - the prospect of any salt taste is completely absent in softened water.

Trace sodium in softened water is mainly below the EU limit of 200 mg/l, usually between 80 to 160 mg/l (ppm) factoring in sodium in source water.  Many supermarket carbonated soft drinks exceed 200 mg/l, milk has 500 mg/l and Heinz soups contain 3000 mg per litre.  The healthy sodium intake we require each day in our diets is 2,400 mg.  Of course milk, soup and softened water are all harmless for almost all age groups in normal use.  Baby formula should be prepared as recommended by the manufacturers.

Domestic metered water softeners typically use 1 euro of electric and 3 to 6 bags of food grade salt tablets per year costing around €21 to €42. Salt use depends on water hardness and amount of water used.  Bags of salt cost around 7 euros each.  Savings on household cleaning / bathing products / plumbing repairs can exceed 300 euros per year, repaying the cost of a water softener in a very short time, along with improving quality of life considerably.

The older timer based water softener systems, could eat up to 12 to 20 bags of salt per year.  The difference in cost of timer and meter water softener systems nowadays is not usually more than 100 euros.  Using a small timer controlled mini cabinet water softener for normal domestic household use is like trying to use a moped to tow a caravan.  You may succeed in getting a moped to pull a caravan along with a shaky level of confidence for a premature period of time, however the moped will drink several times the amount of fuel and will end up in the scrap yard with a much shortened longevity.

Galway Water import by container quantities into Ireland, at the lowest costs, yet using the most sophisticated U.S. made metered water softeners, direct from U.S. manufacturers.  Try buying a water softener for less, and we will beat any water softener quotation guaranteed.

A Clack water softener for limescale hardness removal, is easily the most efficient on water, electric and salt use.  A 10x44 high efficiency water softener can run on €21 to €42 of salt, €1 electric and €2 to €4 water use per year - based on 2-4 people using 100-300 litres per day @ 300ppm lime. 

The domestic water softener is the longest established domestic water treatment system for dealing with hard water and the effects of limescale.  A water softener is guaranteed to remove limescale at the lowest costs compared to other water treatment technologies.

Sometimes referred to as "the salt system" by some, although no salt is used in the softened water flow.   Water softeners also reduce grit, sediment, lead, radium, iron and manganese and selective ions.

A water softener is not hazardous to bio or septic tanks. No salt enters household supplies. Only limescale is removed. Plumbers may advise for hard pipe feeds separate to a water softener maybe without advising for reverse osmosis. If in doubt ask a WQA Master Water Specialist.

The water softener has been around since 1902 to correct the effects of limescale and hard water.  The competitive water softener and water treatment market stepped up after 1908 becoming high-tech around WW2 when the synthetic resin based water softener was introduced.

A water softener is the greenest domestic energy saving device for hard water and limescale, keeping limescale free from copper cylinder spiral coils.

A timer based water softener can eat up to 10 to 20 bags of salt per year.  The difference in price of a timer and metered water softener is now within 100 euros.  Salt savings of 1000's of euros are possible with a meter water softner during its life cycle.

A water softener is very effective for energy savings, appliance repair savings and hardness removal - the pay back is usually within three years.  Clack water softners start from 500 euros - and the best domestic softners up to 950 euros.  It is worth combining a water softner with a reverse osmosis water filter as a discount package to guarantee water is correctly targeted.

Find a full list of water softeners, iron / manganese filters, odour / colour removal water filters, grit and turbidity removal water filters, ultra violet sterilisers, reverse osmosis water filters and other specialist water treatment equipment in our pdf brochures on the homepage.