Stopping rock / limescale in water heater: water softener?

[pappuller]

Do you pump the boresaver through your treatment plant too?

No, just the pipe work up to the holding tank then have a divert valve that returns the solution back to the borehole to recirculate

 

[pappuller]

Does yours smell sulphurous a couple of days later? We usually have to dump the water for a couple of weeks as smells so bad after treatment. Still better than £15k/yr water bill!

No, when we've finished the process(usually between 24/48 hrs) we run to waste for an hour, the solution goes a green colour and when its running pretty clear we just turn the divert valve back. Process needs repeating every 6/8 weeks

 

[pappuller]

We have to lift the pump periodically and circulate it in oxalic acid as it gets pretty minging with iron deposits which affects flow rates.

Just googling oxalic acid crystals they are way cheaper than my boresaver but I wonder if they are one and the same, how do you buy it and how does it come ? Liquid,crystal,powder ? Our stuff comes as light green moist crystals.id be interested in trying it as a full flush. How do you find it cleans ? And both are naturally occurring substances

 

[bigw]

Just googling oxalic acid crystals they are way cheaper than my boresaver but I wonder if they are one and the same, how do you buy it and how does it come ? Liquid,crystal,powder ? Our stuff comes as light green moist crystals.id be interested in trying it as a full flush. How do you find it cleans ? And both are naturally occurring substances

They come in crystals the same as boresaver, oxalic acid is white and the water usually ends up a red oxide colour. Our water goes green with boresaver too, oxalic acid is pretty good at cleaning up iron it comes from rhubarb if i remember correctly.

 

[crashbox]

Gave up with water softeners for the dairy hot water, went to Siliphos or Combiphos. Works well, needs topping up once or twice a year.
https://www.bes.co.uk/cistermiser-combimate-dual-fit-scale-reducer-17067/
Work so well we have them in the cheese and elsewhere on the farm. No power needed, low maintenance. We have seriously hard water, from our chalk borehole. Mains water into the cheese room is as bad, and also responds to this

Tried various things but not heard of this, sounds too good to be true!
I guess it will do volume no problem? At a guess we would use 1 to 1.5 m3 per day heated water.

 

[pappuller]

They come in crystals the same as boresaver, oxalic acid is white and the water usually ends up a red oxide colour. Our water goes green with boresaver too, oxalic acid is pretty good at cleaning up iron it comes from rhubarb if i remember correctly.

I'm of a mind to order some oxalic acid and boresaver this week as we are due a clean, try the acid for 24 hrs and see if its cleaned up

 

[sjt01]

Tried various things but not heard of this, sounds too good to be true!
I guess it will do volume no problem? At a guess we would use 1 to 1.5 m3 per day heated water.

According to the user guide, it will deliver 1 m3/hour at 1 bar pressure drop. It is on 15 mm pipework. I was very seceptical, thinking it was like the magnetic or electric coil scale reducers, but thought it worth a try, and it does really work.
This is the manufacturer's web site https://www.combimate.co.uk/, there is also Siliphos http://www.aquachemix.com/index.htm

 

[The Agrarian]

Our borehole cleaning plant right to left, holding tank, pump,manganese cleaner,iron cleaner,softener,2x particle filters 10micron/5micron, uv filter. Water runs in through that order.

Heck that's a lot of plant. Makes a new heater element look cheap to be honest. We have a hard borehole too, but no sludge issues that I'm aware of thankfully. Dad fitted it over 30 years ago. It goes for the heater in the dairy tank boiler every two or three years, and it's a bit rough on kettles. But luckily the robots mix the descale in their heater tanks, so they are spotless. Probably should get a UV on it though.

 

[bean]

Anybody tried putting pruex down borehole daily, they say it will keep water & pipes clean?

 

[sjt01]

Anybody tried putting pruex down borehole daily, they say it will keep water & pipes clean?

We pump it in to the supply from the bore pump. Dosing pump at top right,grey drum of diluted Pruex on left.

 

[Agrifool]

We pump it in to the supply from the bore pump. Dosing pump at top right,grey drum of diluted Pruex on left.

Do you notice much of a benefit with the pruex?

 

[sjt01]

Do you notice much of a benefit with the pruex?

It stopped Pseudomonas 18 months ago, and keeps biofilm down in the water tanks. Difficult to quantify. No use at all for limescale though!