Do we need a filter on our in coming mains

[Murdoch]

we completely refurbished our house 4 . 5 years ago.

All the taps have ceramic fittings and they are all needing replacing.

A local plumber has suggested adding a filter to the incoming mains.

Is this worth doing?

I don't mind spending the money if it will prolong the life of all our traps and shower fittings.

Thanks.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Are you in a hard water area ?

 

[Murdoch]

Yes, but we do have a softener

 

[jtsplumbing]

Don't need a filter then, all your water passes through the softener apart from the one on the kitchen taps, if softener is doing its job you shouldn't be getting any deposits on the taps , How old is softener ? is it a salt based one or one of those electric things that raps around the pipe if so they do nothing other than use electric.

 

[Sharp Point]

What is incoming cold mains working and standing pressure?

 

[Welder]

Hmm. An interesting comment from your plumber. Have you any idea of the basis for his comment?

I can assure you NO filter that is usable on a domestic main, i.e. will allow a decent flow at a reasonable price, will stop the kinds of particles that can ruin ceramic discs in taps. You would need filters that demineralise water for that and that ends up tasting shocking...

Just to explain. The discs are ground so flat that they count the number of photons (individual particles of light) that pass through as a measure of their flatness. They use photons because they are much smaller than water molecules, 'simply' measurable and cheap to measure.

Discs fail for one of two (main) reasons:
1 - grit gets caught between the discs and, being harder than the ceramic, scores them.
2 - limescale build up on the edges of the disc builds up causing gaps

The types of filter your plumber will be referring to here cannot prevent those from occuring.

Lastly, to be honest 4/5 years is actually good considering the price paid by manufacturers for cartridges.

HTH

 

[Robert Tyrrell]

Whatever the cause of the scale build up, the taps should be repairable. I don't work in a hard water area and yet I'm constantly replacing ceramic tap valve that are around 8 - 10 years old.
It's a simple enough job, depending on the type of system you have installed, and you can get parts for almost every ceramic ¼ turn tap from the Tap Magician.
The Tap Magician