Water2Buy W2B200 Water Softener | Efficient Digital Meter Softener up to 6 People | 100% Limescale Removed
Common Questions | Häufige Fragen | Questions courantes | Domande comuni | Preguntas comunes
EN
To connect the water softener to your plumbing use an install kit, sold separately. Separate mounting blocks are not required the unit has separate bypass and water hardness adjustment. The softener uses Water2Buy crystal salt available to buy or subscribe. Water2Buy Water softeners do not affect water pressure. Water2Buy Water softeners can be installed with a combi-boiler. Water softeners don’t make any noise while in normal softening mode, during regeneration they make a noise similar to a dish washer. We recommend an annual self-service using Softec resin cleaner. If you are concerned about drinking soft water, install an Easy1 undersink filter tap before the water softener. Scanning the QR code on your Product to get the app or Search the App store.
DE
Um den Wasserenthärter an Ihre Rohrleitungen anzuschließen, verwenden Sie ein separat erhältliches Installationsset. Separate Montageblöcke sind nicht erforderlich, das Gerät verfügt über einen separaten Bypass und eine Wasserhärteeinstellung. Der Enthärter verwendet Water2Buy-Kristallsalz, das Sie kaufen oder abonnieren können. Water2Buy Wasserenthärter haben keinen Einfluss auf den Wasserdruck. Water2Buy Wasserenthärter können mit einem Kombikessel installiert werden. Wasserenthärter machen im normalen Enthärtungsmodus keine Geräusche, während der Regeneration machen sie ein Geräusch ähnlich einer Spülmaschine. Wir empfehlen eine jährliche Selbstbedienung mit Softec Harzreiniger. Wenn Sie Bedenken haben, weiches Wasser zu trinken, installieren Sie einen Easy1-Untertisch-Filterhahn vor dem Wasserenthärter. Scannen Sie den QR-Code auf Ihrem Produkt, um die App zu erhalten, oder suchen Sie im App Store.
FR
Pour connecter l’adoucisseur d’eau à votre plomberie, utilisez un kit d’installation, vendu séparément. Des blocs de montage séparés ne sont pas nécessaires, l’unité dispose d’un réglage séparé de la dérivation et de la dureté de l’eau. L’adoucisseur utilise le sel cristal Water2Buy disponible à l’achat ou à l’abonnement. Water2Buy Les adoucisseurs d’eau n’affectent pas la pression de l’eau. Les adoucisseurs d’eau Water2Buy peuvent être installés avec une chaudière combinée. Les adoucisseurs d’eau ne font aucun bruit lorsqu’ils sont en mode d’adoucissement normal, pendant la régénération, ils font un bruit similaire à celui d’un lave-vaisselle. Nous recommandons un libre-service annuel utilisant le nettoyant pour résine Softec. Si vous êtes soucieux de boire de l’eau douce, installez un robinet filtre sous évier Easy1 avant l’adoucisseur d’eau. Scannez le code QR sur votre produit pour obtenir l’application ou recherchez dans l’App Store.
IT
Per collegare l’addolcitore all’impianto idraulico, utilizzare un kit di installazione, venduto separatamente. Non sono necessari blocchi di montaggio separati l’unità dispone di un bypass separato e di una regolazione della durezza dell’acqua. L’addolcitore utilizza il sale cristallino Water2Buy disponibile per l’acquisto o l’abbonamento. Gli addolcitori Water2Buy non influiscono sulla pressione dell’acqua. Gli addolcitori Water2Buy possono essere installati con una caldaia combinata. Gli addolcitori non fanno rumore mentre sono in normale modalità di addolcimento, durante la rigenerazione emettono un rumore simile a quello di una lavastoviglie. Si consiglia un self-service annuale utilizzando il detergente per resine Softec. Se sei preoccupato di bere acqua dolce, installa un rubinetto con filtro sottolavello Easy1 prima dell’addolcitore d’acqua. Scansiona il codice QR sul tuo prodotto per ottenere l’app o cerca nell’App store.
ES
Para conectar el ablandador de agua a la tuberÃa, use un kit de instalación, que se vende por separado. No se requieren bloques de montaje separados, la unidad tiene un bypass y un ajuste de dureza del agua separados. El ablandador utiliza sal cristalina Water2Buy disponible para comprar o suscribirse. Water2Buy Los ablandadores de agua no afectan la presión del agua. Water2Buy Los descalcificadores de agua se pueden instalar con una caldera combinada. Los ablandadores de agua no hacen ningún ruido mientras están en el modo de ablandamiento normal, durante la regeneración hacen un ruido similar al de un lavavajillas. Recomendamos un autoservicio anual con el limpiador de resina Softec. Si le preocupa beber agua blanda, instale un grifo con filtro para debajo del fregadero Easy1 antes del ablandador de agua. Escaneando el código QR en su producto para obtener la aplicación o buscar en la tienda de aplicaciones.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EN | Stainless steel connection hoses for installation 3/4″ | 22mm | Stainless steel connection hoses for installation 1″ | 28mm | Water Softener Salt 25Kg bag | easy1 water filter water system undersink water filter | Changeable 3/4″ | 22mm fittings | Changeable 1″ | 28mm fittings |
| DE | Edelstahl-Anschlussschläuche zur Installation 3/4″ | 22mm | Edelstahl-Anschlussschläuche zur Installation 1″ | 28mm | Wasserenthärter Salz 25Kg Beutel | easy1 Wasserfilter Wassersystem Untertisch Wasserfilter | Wechselbare 3/4″ | 22mm Anschlüsse | Wechselbare 1″ | 28mm Anschlüsse |
| FR | Tuyaux de raccordement en acier inoxydable pour installation 3/4″ | 22mm | Tuyaux de raccordement en acier inoxydable pour installation 1″ | 28mm | Adoucisseur d’eau Sel Sac 25Kg | filtre à eau easy1 système d’eau filtre à eau sous évier | Raccords interchangeables 3/4″ | 22mm | Raccords interchangeables 1″ | 28mm |
| IT | Tubi di collegamento in acciaio inox per installazione 3/4″ | 22mm | Tubi di collegamento in acciaio inox per installazione 1″ | 28mm | Addolcitore Sale Sacchetto 25Kg | filtro dell’acqua easy1 sistema dell’acqua sottolavello filtro dell’acqua | Raccordi intercambiabili da 3/4″ | 22mm | Raccordi intercambiabili da 1″ | 28mm |
| ES | Mangueras de conexión de acero inoxidable para instalación 3/4″| 22mm | Mangueras de conexión de acero inoxidable para instalación 1″| 28mm | Sal Suavizante de Agua Bolsa 25Kg | filtro de agua easy1 sistema de agua filtro de agua debajo del fregadero | Accesorios intercambiables de 3/4″ | 22mm | Accesorios intercambiables de 1″ | 28mm |
| Weight: | 28.5 kg |
| Dimensions: | 42 x 22 x 65 cm; 28.5 Kilograms |
| Model: | W2B200 |
| Part: | W2B200 |
| Colour: | White, Green |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Water2buy |
| Colour: | White, Green |
| Dimensions: | 42 x 22 x 65 cm; 28.5 Kilograms |
| Quantity: | 1 |
This has been money well spent. Though it didn’t cost as much as other rivals. Bought about 18 months ago and as far as I can tell it’s brilliant. No more limescale. Hard water beautifully soft.
Take care that bypass valves are set correctly. Instructions for the meter are different on YouTube from those in the supplied book. Easy to install if you have space but difficult in a confined space.
My plumber fixed it for me, slightly larger than expected so he struggled to rearrange the pipes under the kitchen sink. Once its done , all is well and working fine. Will recommend .
Bought to replace one easy fit straight swap,j seems to work well
Quite difficult to install. But when installed gives a super soft water.
My husband installed the water softener himself. He watched the YouTube tutorials and it was fairly straightforward. We tested our water after 24 hours and it was already showing it was softer. After 48 hours it was showing as soft (yellow on our tester). The water feels silky when washing with it.
We have noticed an improvement in our dry skin and flaky scalps. Have recommended it to family and friends.
I noticed that there is an option to have water2buy install it for a couple of hundred pounds which is well worth it.
This unit was to replace my old water softener, which had failed. As it was a straight replacement, it was very easy to fit. Have only had for 6 weeks, but water is soft and unit uses lot less salt than my old unit. To early to say if it’s value for money , but so far very good.
This unit came highly recommended and has lived up to its hype. It is relatively straightforward to install yourself if you have some basic plumbing ability. We live in SE Kent with extremely hard water, which ruins lots of things and makes hard work of cleaning the rest, so this is a long overdue purchase. It has been installed for 3 days now and is already making a marked difference. Just the bubbles from shampoo an shower gel make it obvious it’s working, but the real delight was wiping off the show door. No marks! Brilliant. The draining board is normally a fiend to deal with but the water marks left are just that now and clean away easily unlike previously when it meant getting the line scale remover out every time a pesky child had splashed it and left it!! It fits nicely in the cupboard under the sink and is unobtrusive, unlike ones that sit outside. It is great value and will save a lot more in its life time. I cannot rate this highly enough.
o fit in a standard 500mm unit, it needs to be empty, as in no water pipes or waste pipes, this thing is big! add on the inlet/outlet pipes and you might have to cut a hole in the back of cupboard, putting that to one side installation is straight forward, you can get the insulation parts from any plumbers/diy shop, just cut the supply into the house and fitted 2 x 15mm compression joints with 3/4 thread and used 2 washing machine supply pipes, drain pipe and overflow is 1/2 inch not 15mm, drilled into washing machine waste pipe, and glued in 2 push on fittings/straight conector I got from B&Q, the difference in water quality is instant, kettle/ shower screen stays clean, no dry skin after bath/shower, outlet pressure/flow about the same.
Good value and really efficient. It is much more effective than the last one I had (though it was 20 yrs old). Easy to install especially with the online videos provided by the company.
great well built piece of kit great fitting instructions great videos helping in simple words works great easy to adjust removed visible lime scale in a matter of days
The W2B200 was very straightforward to install and we reused the existing 3/4″ flexible connections.
The waste and overflow connections were adapted from previous model with no problems.
The set up was logical and it’s now in full delivering lovely soft water, we are very pleased with our purchase.
Just like many other reviews, I too have found Water2Buy’s Customer Service to be unrivalled. They were helpful before, during and after buying the product. I wasn’t sure which product to buy, they were incredibly helpful over the phone. Immediately after installation, the water ended up tasting too salty, again I got an immediate reply on how to adjust the settings to prevent that. Also, I had bought the installation kit sold by amazon without realising that the 22mm hoses were commercial size, I needed a smaller size. Again, Water2Buy was incredibly understanding and refunded me for the hoses immediately, the hoses were not even returned. I cannot recommend this company more. The product works, and the customer care is outstanding.
So far so good, ordered two of these one for me and one for a friend only 50 delivery to Belgium. Easy to install and compact. The user interface is a little on the cheap side buttons not very good quality and the plastics on the whole device are a little thin. However that said it’s been in operation now for 8 weeks and all is ok.
Belgium is super expensive for anything like this even though the water here is very hard. Even with delivery the price is a third of similar products available here, which are mainly of German manufacturer, so it’s a bargain at that price.
Just had this water softener installed and I found it easy to set-up and easy to top the salt up. I no longer need to buy any line scale removing products as my shower screen, taps and kitchen sink are all so much easier to keep clean. I live in a really hard water area and I now couldn’t be without a water softener since installing this. Great product with nothing to fault so far.
Excellent value for money and great service from this company.
I bought this product in August 2018 and have waited until now to review it, to allow time to see how it performs. It was purchased to replace a basic, timed (i.e. non-metered) unit which had failed after a number of years of use. The connectors on the Water2Buy unit are standard fittings and I was able to use my existing hoses, so installation took less than 10 minutes. After setting the metering in accordance with the water hardness in my area (Internet search), it has run perfectly and uses around 50% less salt than the previous unit.
Shortly after installing it I contacted W2B Customer Service by email to clarify a small aspect of the operation (data shown on the digital display) and very quickly received a telephone call to discuss my question – excellent service!
Based on my experience, I thoroughly recommend this product.
As the mains water comes into the house via the garage, that is where the softener is installed. In an old kitchen unit and well insulated it works a treat. It has made such a difference to everything in the house. The dishwasher now doesn’t need salt, showering leaves hair soft and silky (so my partner tells me)! we don’t use the Brita filter anymore as hot drinks taste fine.
All in all a the 200 is a good buy and one that I would recommend to any one in a hard water area.
I could say about the quality of this machine but I won’t, and that’s because the after sales service and support from W2B is absolutely phenomenal and that’s what really matters (no, I don’t know them outside of this purchase).
A bit of advice – if you need any extra parts, I’d suggest calling them first to see if they can include it in the package rather than buying it elsewhere. I wasted time buying stuff off screwfix because I wasn’t aware that they could supply it.
This was easily installed by a plumber (approx 200 to install, but you may be a competent DIYer) and has been operating as expected for 3 years. Easy controls and water is nice and soft. We didn’t have a separate tap for hard drinking water, having researched the subject extensively. Not had to maintain it yet and no problems encountered. Other products installed by specialist companies were about 4 time the cost.
Super piece of kit! Great price as previously considered other more pricy competitor products. Got my plumber to install. Took him no time. Now the softener has been running a few weeks I have been impressed with its effectiveness. Noticeable reduction in limescale as I don’t need to worry about cleaning the showerscreen, less detergent needed, skin is softer and less dry…the list goes on and on.
I’ve only needed to use one bag (10kg) of salt in around a month and still going strong.
Also Steve from Customer Services has been super helpful. Thanks and Merry Xmas.
I did my research of Water softeners on the web and found the Water2Buy in my personal opinion the best option for our situation at home, it was easy to fit and runs quietly all day, it regenerates itself at 3am, the water softener has made a great difference to our shower and we live in a hard water area.
We fitted a separate drinking water supply which we also purchased from Water2Buy.
Read through twice and ensure that only the relevant parts of the manual are observed. Ensuring that you have water test strips to monitor the incoming source of water is a must to ensure the equipment is set up properly.
Installation is relatively straightforward although each one will be different dependant on the location etc. I had to replace almost everything from the incoming mains to the wet wall but it also allowed me to install a new Stop Cock, a PRV and relocate a sink.
Additional parts will be required and I also ordered these through w2b although they are available from other sources.
The difference in water was noticeable immediately, we have a combi-boiler with no separate header tank and extremely hard water.
The shower unit began to “self-clean” and within a week any remaining scale that would literally weld itself to the glass disappeared.
The taste of tea and coffee certainly improved (we also have a separate Brita water filter for drinking water) and although I read different accounts of drinking softened water we found it totally agreeable.
Overall I am very happy with the unit, the price was good compared to what you could pay, installation was relatively straightforward, salt use after two weeks appears to very reasonable and most importantly the water quality has dramatically improved.
I would suggest to w2b that the inclusion of a test strip or two in the basic package would help others to set the machine up properly in the first instance.
Now been using for 10 months and still brilliant, limescale has not re-appeared and appliances a clea
The only but I didn’t like is the manual, to me it looks like one of those Chinese manuals the has been translated into English and not checked. The internet and the help line very quickly sorted out the few problems I had setting up controller.
We’ve owned the W2B200 since Oct 2nd, so I can now give true review of the softener. We have a test kit that every drop equals 20ppm of harness, our untreated water is 420ppm, using the W2B200 the treated water is so soft I cannot get a reading,superb. The W2B200 was simple to setup and uses considerably less salt than the Monarch we used to have. Very very happy with Water2buy
There were a few hiccups at first as no by-pass was supplied with the water softener (required by law in the UK) and the braided hoses (that have to be purchased separately) did not fit my water supply despite being as recommended. As the rest of the kitchen fitting was dependent on the water softener, my fitter had to go out to buy replacements urgently, although W2B later recompensed the cost. My fitter said that it is unusual for a water softener to be sold without everything in the appropriate sizes included but I guess that this is done as the company is selling in various countries and at a very competitive price?
It was impossible to use the blue cover as this made the water softener too tall to fit in a kitchen unit (someone else suggested cutting a hole in the floor of the cupboard but this was impossible as the softener extended over the plinth.)
As one can imagine I had a number of contacts with the company, mostly via Amazon, although W2B responded fairly quickly. As they are located in Eire, direct contact was difficult to achieve without incurring costs. However, there is now an email address on their website and an 0845 telephone number.
Setting up the meter controls wasn’t too difficult following the Instruction Manual – once I had discovered that “Press ….” really meant “Press and hold ….” and after I had elicited the hardness of my water from my water supplier’s website.
Apparently, one has to reset the clock after a power cut and when the clocks change, but in the latter case I probably won’t bother as I have left the regeneration time at the 3am default value; if this alters by an hour there should be no problem as I have not heard any noise during regeneration.
My experience regarding salt consumption is limited so far but I estimate that it is running at 2.5kg (1.30) per week, as suggested by W2B for a small household. However, I must remember not to buy a 25kg bag again as it is rather heavy!
There were a few hiccups at first as no by-pass was supplied with the water softener (required by law in the UK) and the braided hoses (that have to be purchased separately) did not fit my water supply despite being as recommended. As the rest of the kitchen fitting was dependent on the water softener, my fitter had to go out to buy replacements urgently, although W2B later recompensed the cost. My fitter said that it is unusual for a water softener to be sold without everything in the appropriate sizes included but I guess that this is done as the company is selling in various countries and at a very competitive price?
It was impossible to use the blue cover as this made the water softener too tall to fit in a kitchen unit (someone else suggested cutting a hole in the floor of the cupboard but this was impossible as the softener extended over the plinth.)
As one can imagine I had a number of contacts with the company, mostly via Amazon, although W2B responded fairly quickly. As they are located in Eire, direct contact was difficult to achieve without incurring costs. However, there is now an email address on their website and an 0845 telephone number.
Setting up the meter controls wasn’t too difficult following the Instruction Manual – once I had discovered that “Press ….” really meant “Press and hold ….” and after I had elicited the hardness of my water from my water supplier’s website.
Apparently, one has to reset the clock after a power cut and when the clocks change, but in the latter case I probably won’t bother as I have left the regeneration time at the 3am default value; if this alters by an hour there should be no problem as I have not heard any noise during regeneration.
My experience regarding salt consumption is limited so far but I estimate that it is running at 2.5kg (1.30) per week, as suggested by W2B for a small household. However, I must remember not to buy a 25kg bag again as it is rather heavy!
A separate digital display would have been handy, that one could place over the counter for easy approach, and be helpful to manualy regenerate when needed.
So far so good.
Really easy to install, plus there are the videos on YouTube to help if you need. Within an hour or so our water hardness went from 400ppm to zero.
Just remember to order the salt at the same time.
Bought to replace a failing 25-year-old softener of another make. This was easy to fit, does the job, and uses less salt than to old one.
However, the ‘recommended’ hoses the company suggests are so stiff that they have made the unit impossible to fit. They cannot be bent and when connected to the 3/4 inch supply the end connectors to go into the unit are at the angle they are at and can’t be rotated. So you’re likely to end up with a very strong coil or two of the hosing blocking behind the unit and/or be unable to position it where you’d like because you can’t orientate the softener due to having it connected to two inflexible hoses that won’t flex.
The unit will also have to be at an angle under the sink because of the connectors. So having to source some hoses as flexible as the ones shown on the excellent installation video and hope it then works.
Suggest someone at the company actually tries to install one of these with the parts they recommend. Then they wouldn’t irritate fitters and purchasers as much.
UPDATE Completely by chance (I genuinely believe that) the company phoned to follow up on the unit. Very nice chap and the answer is to use washing machine hoses (which I will now do). It’s not the problem that’s the problem, it’s how it’s dealt with and I don’t think the call was prompted by this review so I’m a happy customer.
Seems a nicely made product and easy to install. However I’m finding the setting up of the programme puzzling. I am getting screen displays which do not feature in the instruction book. It seems to be working but I may have to phone for help.
Finally after contacting Water 2 buy they have sent a replacement unit at no cost to us. This has now been fitted and is working well our water is now soft. The service department were experiencing problems with their phones but this has now been sorted out. I have revised my review accordingly as the service we have received has been exemplary.
My older Monarch softener used to regen on a timer every night whether it needed to regen or not, which is far less economical than this model which regens only after passing a user-programmable metered volume of water. Manual overide regen is very easy; I only used this to test the system after first fitting but it could be used if the water doesn’t feel so soft and is due to regen later that night.
Access to filling with salt is easy even when the unit is tucked into the far corner of the corner sink unit if you position it on the floor by cutting out a hole in the base cabinet. I leave the main plastic top off for easier access as there’s a second lid over the salt filler to stop dirt getting in. We live in a very hard water area and top up with salt about every 3-4 weeks for a 3-adult household. It uses a 25kg bag of salt around every 2-3 months.
The initial cost of this unit is very quickly recouped by eliminating limescale in household hot and cold water systems, boilers, tanks and appliances which work more efficiently with soft water and use much less soap and detergent in the washing machine and dishwasher. No more limescale on taps, kitchen worktops, toilet, shower heads and glass shower screens. You should feel the difference as soon as your water system has cleared of hard water which could take a day or two. Over a period of about 6 months it should leave your system completely clear of limescale, even the hot water tank. This will help appliances work more efficiently and increase their longevity whilst reducing servicing costs. I wouldn’t be without a water softener in a hard water area and I’m very pleased with this product.
UPDATE: 3 years after fitting it’s still performing as new. Cannot fault this water softener.
The W2B200 came with excellent instructions, all necessary parts and was very straightforward to install. However, as our water pressure is regularly between 8 and 10 bar, I had to also purchase and install a pressure reducing valve as the WB200 requires a maximum of 5 bar. I was very pleased to discover that the W2B200 uses much less salt than our previous softener. Our old softener used one bag about every 6 weeks whereas the W2B200 only uses one every two and a half months. (There are just two of us in the house but, according to Thames Water, we have much higher water usage than average.) This new water softener also regenerates much faster because the brine solution is prepared prior to the start of the regeneration cycle rather than during it, which our old one did, so the regeneration cycle is shorter by much more than 2 hours. We have, just twice, had hard water come through when showering but both times this was when it had exceeded its regeneration capacity just after the scheduled regeneration time at 3am, so was waiting to regenerate the following night. However, I have now changed the settings so that it will regenerate after a lower volume of water has been used, so this should avoid this happening again.
After 3 months everything is still working very well. We are a family of 4 with fairly high water consumption needs and it meets those needs very well. Plenty of soft water on tap! We use about one 25kg bag of salt per month. This softener was a fraction of the price of other well known softeners. Very pleased.
Greta product. My husband fited it fine, after reading other comments. Good price. Only down side is the unit is taller than the one it is replacing, so it’s difficult to get the lid on and off in the cupboard.
Great machine, much better than my previous machine.
Whole house has soft water,set for 4 people in house generates about every 10 days and using little salt.
Good value.
Great support from Steve of. Water2Buy answered my queries.
Excellent piece of kit. Bought to replace an existing softener. This is much better – well made and easy to install. I’ve been using it for several months now and it does everything its supposed to. Also excellent support from the supplier – nothing is too much trouble. And at a very good price.
Installed during renovation, thinking at the time it was a bit extravagant. After having it on-line for a couple of months, I wouldn’t want to be without it now!
It supplies all hot water in the house, all basin colds, washing machine, and dishwasher. What a difference it makes! we now use less detergent in the washing machine, no salt and less rinse aid in the dishwasher, and our shower cubicles no longer have that white chalky scum all over them. Skin also feels better after showering. I used to get dry skin after a shower, not any more.
Obviously fitted as part of a renovation was easy peasy, but even a retrofit wouldn’t be difficult.
Once set up it manages everything itself based on how much water you consume. All you need to do is feed it salt every now and again.
Having lived in a very hard water area (south coast) I don’t know why I waited so long to get a softener.
Simply put, I love it!
In was looking for long time to buy water softener and finally decided to go for Water2Buy one. Read lots of reveiws, nearly most of them positive. It is very easy to install and settingd are straight forward. I actually forgot when I have seen any scale anywhere at all. The water quality is amazing, keeps you hands soft and no stains on cutleries or taps. All you need just to keep an eye on salt and fill it up timely, but this does not happenned more than once in a 4-5 weeks. So far so good, hopefully will last.
Hands down the best house investment I’ve ever made, works straight away and love how we have soft water no marks and no scale. Needed a plumber to install
Good water softner. We had the same one before in our previous house and was so pleased with it fitted the same again. Sadly it still doesn’t come with a fitting kit and hoses.
Has reduced my ppm from about 440 to about 120 and I could reduce a little further if required.
Hoses which I bought from same company were completely useless as they were the wrong size, you just need a couple of washing machine hoses to make this work so don’t bother with the overpriced metal hoses.
The set up process is about getting the regen process right, if you do it too often then you will use too much salt, too little and you will get hard water before the regen process kicks in. i.e. If it starts off soft water and then goes to hard water before the regn process kicks off then you need to decrease the regen cap. (this is in tonnes) If you see that the salt water tank is empty then you will need to increase the refill time from the default. All of the other settings just leave as default for the model.
Do not follow the instructions as they are not correct. The plumber who fitted mine said you must be able to bypass the softener in the event of a malfunction.
Other than that the water softener has made a big different. No more descaling the shower head and taps.
We used to have a softener in out old house but we moved and the new house didn’t. We could tell instantly just how hard the water was within days.
So after a lot of research I opted for the W2B200. Very impressed and pleased with it.
Easy to install, fits perfectly under the drawer in the kitchen cupboard.
And wow we could notice the difference instantly.
Bought the unit in April and it arrived very promptly and was easy to install. It has been working well and is very quiet and I have had no problems with it. We live in a hard water area and our water is now noticeably softer which means that the shower units are much easier to keep clean.
The customer service from Water2Buy is exceptional with a follow up phone call to check everything is working well. I would highly recommend them.
So far we are happy with it, but takes a bit of resetting to get it set right for your particular household situatio
fitting was fortuitous easy as we had a previous water softener that gave up the ghost and all the pluming was already in place.
Programing was Fairly straight forward, once we had found how hard our water was (Google) and then working out which figure corresponded to the program requirements.
the system works well and for a family of three we have used 25kg of salt in 6 weeks
We did needed to change the pipes that were incorrectly supplied but this was done quickly and the team at water 2 buy were very helpful.
I bought the softener back in Aug this year & 4 months on I’m really chuffed. I waited until now so I could leave a proper and accurate review.
I am so pleased & what a doddle to fit- it actually took about an 1 hr.. The online instructions/video were a piece of cake and easy to follow (even for a basic enthusiast doing DIY)
I can honestly say I don’t know why
A) I worried this would be difficult to fit and
B) It wouldn’t work in our hard water area…..
I can say it was a really simple to fit and not only that our water that was previously so so hard is now just perfect.
I use less of everything shampoo, washing liquid etc and I no longer put salt in the Dish Washer either, talk about win win !
Thanks Water2buy as you have also transformed my barnet in 4 months lol, its now a lot lot softer & more manageable to boot !
I tested the water hardness pre install with a reading of 296ppm and now post install the water is around 80-100ppm and you can certainly tell the difference with how much softer the water is. It works very well and probably does the job of ones on that market that are double if not treble the price.
My only recommendation from doing some research on this is that whilst our water is much much softer hence healthier for skin & hair etc, also little to now limescale and the benefit of not needing to use as much washing up liquid, soaps and other cleaning / wellbeing products, I would advise installation of a drinking water faucet from the mains before the water softener installation. Purely due to the water softener using tablet salt to soften the water it has to leave small amounts of sodium in the water, plus it removes most of the good minerals in the water.
That said such an installation is not overly expensive and based on the water softener ability to offer many more benefits in producing much softer water this is a minor point.
Overall really pleased with this purchase and in the end the way that Water2buy handled their customer services given that it was a courier issue and not their fault – very good value for money in my view.
This has been in a year now and it works well.
Not the easiest to install or set up and it takes up more space than they suggest as you have to allow room to get the salt in.
We also bought 5 bags of salt and still have 1 and a half left although there are just 2 in the house.
How soft the water, what a treat. Makes all that hard work worthwhile, I would whole heartedly urge anyone contemplating to go ahead and buy because for me this was the purchase of the year.
I carried out a hardness test before {250+} and after [40] excellent result.
I had a bath last night and noticed immediately. I quickly learnt that one has to be careful its very slippery, just not use to it.
The soap went further, overall I felt a lot cleaner when finished.
I haven’t noticed any difference in the taste of the water but then I do have a water filter for the drinking water tap.
I think it would have been nice if we had been given a choice of sides to fit the overflow outlet. The kitchen is always a headache to arrange due to a lack of space, low level, after having fitted fridge/freezer/washing machine/dishwasher ! its a nightmare. I had a 300 Base Unit I could fit it in, bit of a squeeze due to the rather large outlet pipe 16mm ? bit large for its job ! IMHO
I also I thought the electrical connector a little fragile, i.e. it came apart too easily I ended up using electrical tape to stop this being repeated .
In the great scheme of things this is all small potatoes when the machine does all that it says on the tin, and more. The shower head will not require cleaning of all that chalk etc. , ditto the Kettle / Iron and the toilet cistern etc.
But if they did take notice and address all the points above then this machine would be nothing short of perfect
Go on, treat your body to a new experience that is overdue, luxuriate in body kind soft water.
We’ve got ours installed in a laundry closet, next to the washing machine. This is where the water main comes into the house, so it was easy to plumb the water softener in. We have everything in the house except the kitchen sink cold tap, the fridge water connection and the outside tap coming off the water softener.
Hair is softer, a lot less mess on the shower glass to clean off, and glassware gets spotlessly clean in the dishwasher now. Wish I’d bought one years ago – before the hard water semi-destroyed the washing machine. (It’s now full of grey soap scum, which keeps getting onto our clothes).
Pros:
* Slimline – only 225mm wide
* HUGE salt tank capacity. I reckon it will take 2-3 full bags of salt
* Takes just about any kind of salt – tablets, blocks, etc.
* Electronic metered – only regenerates at a set time of the day, AFTER the softening capacity has been used up
* High-flow (22mm) hoses are quite cheap at 16 quid. Some brands charge 60 quid for the same thing!
Cons:
* Have to buy some of the connection fittings separately – 22mm hoses, 22mm hose quick fit connectors
* Overflow hose wasn’t very long. Had to buy another piece
* Regen cycle is a little noisy. Can be mitigated by fitting the drain tube end as far into the waste trap as possible
* Can’t read the LCD display through the blue plastic lid, because the LED backlight only comes on when a button is pressed, or it’s regenerating
* No ‘low salt’ alarm. Have to remember to check it periodically
* No published figures for salt usage or water efficiency (the % of water that goes down the drain for each regen cycle).
After 6 month use only question was why it took me so long to get it installed. Installation itself was easy enough for a diyer unit is small and easily supply a 3 bedroom house with 4 occupant. Water2buy was excellent in sending out the alternative connectors at no extra cost. All in all very happy with the purchase
I bought the W2B200 to replace an old water softener. It was delivered very quickly and was easy to install myself thanks to the very clear instructions included with the product and also as a video online. In operation, it has been entirely trouble free and seems to be delivering good soft water.
Perfect! Uses much less salt than my previous timer softener. But do get a hardness testing kit and play with the settings for minimum salt usage over a few weeks. The instructions could go into what each setting does and how changing the numbers will effect the unit but trial and error works
Bought to replace our Culligan Softener which hasnt worked for 3 years after new heating system was installed. Fitted easily and water is already softer in only 48hrs. Small crack to lid on delivery but we can live with it.
Installation
The water softener was very easy to install and setup. The hardest part was the actual plumbing, though, having had plumbing experience, this wasn’t too bad. Luckily, having a largest kitchen, I was able to sacrifice the area under the sink, where the mains enters the house, for just the plumbing work (see image 1), and to put the softener in the cupboard to the right (see image 2). The two blue pipes are the incoming (bottom) and outgoing (top) to and from the softener. I advise anyone installing any water softener to do as I have done; add a bypass pipe. So in the event of having to remove/shut off the softener for any reason, you still have the ability to use water direct from the mains. Also, make sure that you don’t soften any water going to the outside tap, unless you like your car salty or soft plants 🙂 . As you can see, I’ve use pre-soldered yorkshire fittings rather speedfit fittings/pipes. Thats just a preference of mine. I know once its soldered, its soldered, its not going to give me any issues.
Setup
Once all connected, the softener took very little time to setup. I used some water hardness tablets to identify the hardness level of the water, and matched the settings I needed to enter against the table in the booklet. After a few hours or use, I tested the water again with a water hardness tablet, and it showed up as “soft” and in the desired range.
Use
I have been told by the wife that the cups of tea I make her now are “very smooth”. The kids and I used to get skin irritations (cracking skin on fingers), which I believed the hard water didn’t help. Since the softener has been installed, all of our skin irritations have gone. The shower cubicles, shower screens, bath and sinks are all staying cleaner longer, which means that we don’t have to use as many cleaning products.
Price
This is doing the same job as a family members water softener which they paid 1,100 for.
So, all in all very happy.
We also found that the quality of water for the bath and shower was greatly improved and was far softer than previously. the water feels softer and soap lathers better etc.
I thoroughly recommend these machines as they do exactly what they say they do. our appliances are working better, our water is far nicer and is much more comfortable on the skin.
As to installation, it as very easy and connects via standard washing machine/dishwasher connectors and we had it up and running within about 10 mins.
if you live in a hard water area i would recommend you getting one of these machines. It was well worth the money.
1. The instruction book for the AS200 contradicts the info on the video. The video is more up-to-date, so ditch the book and follow the on-line instructions. I placed my laptop on the kitchen floor, followed each instruction and paused the video until I was ready to move on to the next set up instruction.
2. The stainless steel braided hoses are not supplied with the water softner; you have to purchase them separately. Check on delivery that they have sent you the correct fitting, as I was supplied with an incorrect size to start with.
3. Don’t expect a return telephone call from this company; it seems that they have several staff but only one engineer who can talk you thru any issues / questions you have and getting hold of him is almost impossible. When they finally come back to you, they are charming but this can take days, rather than hours for a return call.
4. They don’t offer a fitting service so you either fit it yourself, or get a plumber to do so, hence the price you’re paying.
5. The blue plastic lid is very flimsy and according to several reviews, often gets damaged during delivery; I’ve just left the top off mine.
On the plus side:-
1. Very fast delivery (three days).
2. The price (down from 500, to 289) is the best in the market place for this size model.
3. When I finally managed to get everything set up and working, the water hardness test confirmed that my water had gone from ‘very hard – almost 1000ppm’ to ‘soft -0ppm’ in less than 48 hours, which is pretty impressive.
I’ll now monitor the salt usage and the water quality over the next few months, but after a frustrating start, I can now say I’m pleased I purchased this from Water2Buy. With just some very minor tweaks (such as a label on the front of the instruction book saying refer to the video rather than the booklet, and an a4 laminated COLOUR print-out showing all the machine parts labelled up for ease of identification), and some customer service improvements for call backs (which are guaranteed to wind up a customer if they’re not forthcoming !), they could easily do a lot more business !
We did have a leak on ours. It was noticed after a couple of months after installment. After communicating with Ware2buy they posted a replacement part which we fitted. everything is all ok now. I left my details in the sales department and they would get Steve to phone us back. It might not be straight away.We also communicated by email. Steve was very reassuring and very help full. Especially in initially setting up the machine. We still got hard water going to kitchen, bathroom and outside taps for drinking.
I would strongly suggest downloading the latest version of the manual from their website as this will have the latest info – the YouTube videos are handy but didn’t quite reflect the version I had. I like this water softener because although it’s metered – you have the ability to fine-tune a number of settings – it works fine using the settings in the on-line manual as a starting point but if, for example, you find that after a re-generation your water tastes a bit salty it most likely means it needs a bit more rinse time and this, and other parameters can be set up.
All in all, very pleased.
The fittings at the rear are 1″, my pipes are 22mm so I needed to get some screw-on fittings to fit the 1″ thread and with 22mm compression to fit my pipework, called a female coupler, Screwfix had what I needed. You can’t solder these as the plastic will melt if you do. The rest of my plumbing was soldered before the final connection to the softener after doing a dry run fitting of all the parts to be soldered. You could use flexi pipe, but I have had these fail after a period of time and I prefer to use copper and solder which seldom fails. To make a water tight connection you need to use plenty of PTFE tape around the thread of the screw on fittings at the back of the softener, wrap it around the thread and build it up to a wedge shape lots of turns are required. When you screw on the female coupler fitting it should make the PTFE squash up to form a nice washer between the plastic fitting on the AS800 and the female coupler, aim for about 2 to 3 mm wedge once done up fairly tight.
I used standard hose pipe to connect the drain and overflow separately. You should add pipe clips to ensure these do not become detached. Check the distance that you need to run these pipes over as longer runs may need larger diameter pipe than standard hose pipe.
When you have got the pipes in place you will want to test the connections are good, I would not put salt in yet as if you need to move it, it will be very heavy with salt in it. Once you are happy with the connections in bypass mode ‘two red taps at back of softener aligned across the pipes’ this allows you to bypass the softener if something goes wrong, and still have water although hard water. Turning the taps so the red tops align along the pipes allows water to enter and leave the AS800 softener chamber. I again would only put a minimum amount of salt in the unit just in case there is a problem, if you need to remove it for any reason you would have to dig the salt out, no fun at all.
The power for the AS800 is from a plug top unit that has a low voltage (12V) output, you will need a socket fairly close by as the lead is not very long from the power supply to the AS800. There is a flying socket on the AS800 that accepts the low voltage plug on the 12V plug top mains adaptor.
There is a mixing valve on the AS800 to the left and below the main head of the control assembly this needs to be gently turned anti -clockwise to its full travel to get soft water.
Get the latest setup data for the softener from the web site of water2buy as the setup in the supplied manual is out of date, also don’t do the load default in the setup menu as these are out of date also. You can get your water hardness from your local water authority web site. You will need that for an accurate setup.
If you want to run a manual generation of the unit and you may want to do this to check you drain line connection is good. There are two things you need to do, first is set in the menu of the unit the Meter to ‘Immediate’ the second is set the REG.Cap to 00.01 this will trigger a manual regeneration. You won’t find this in the manual! It’s very important you get the rest of the settings correct in the menu first. I found the setting on their web site to be very different from what the unit was set to, so do this once you have the unit powered up. If you do this don’t forget to set the REG.Cap back to your correct setting for your water and usage.
Performance
The unit is producing great softened water for me and I am very happy that it works so well. I managed to get two 25kg bags of salt into the unit making it excellent for those, like me, who don’t want to be adding salt frequently.
I have to say that the menu system takes some getting use-to and may confuse at first, however once you have gone through the menu a couple of times it becomes clear. Mostly you won’t need to do this unless the power is off for long enough for it to forget the settings you have made. It may be worth making a note of your settings and leaving it nearby just in case.
The dial on the front is in fact an indication of the position of the multi-way valve that directs the water according to what being done by the control software. Most all of the time this is in the SERV position and it only moves during regeneration. The motor that drives this is quiet, but the water flowing does make some noise when regenerating, how much noise will depend on your mains pressure at the time. The unit is quiet when softening water or idle so that is great. I have no flow issues and we are spread over 3 floors and have 3 bathrooms, utility and kitchen.
I have not supplied softened water to my kitchen drinking tap, fridge water dispenser and garden tap for obvious reasons.
There are some settings in the menu that remain unexplained, but it is useful to know that the Meter setting of both ‘Immediate’ and ‘Delayed’ refers to when the unit will regenerate once it has counted through enough water to require re-generation. Set to ‘delayed’ it will wait until the set time in the menu and if set to immediate it will start re-generating right away which may be inconvenient. When the unit is re-generating you can still get water passing through, but it is not being softened during re-generation process.
The display shows the count-down to re-generation as you use water, this changes slowly over time as this unit has a very good capacity and re-generates infrequently depending on use.
My only criticism of the unit is the display and user interface is not the best, however it works so I don’t have a problem with it.
Overall I like the unit, it’s reasonably priced, does what I want to do and it does that well. I cannot comment on long term performance as I only had it working for a few weeks.
Update after two years operation:
I originally gave this unit 4 stars but have upped it to 5 stars. Why? Well, it has worked 100% since I installed it and has no faults. The plastic case, pipes, valves etc all look as good as the day I installed it. No leaks, no cracks no problems. I originally marked it down due to a few minor things, one of which was a few problems with the manual but since reading my review W2B have updated the manual. I also marked it down due to the position of a waste pipe but in actual fact this has not presented any problems after 2 years of use.
I have tested the effectiveness of the unit with water test strips and it works as it should.
Just to be clear, I paid the Amazon price for this unit and have received no discounts or gifts for this review. I like it when technology works without any fuss and this is a good example. I just add salt and that’s it. Well done W2B.
Original Review:
We live in an old house in a very hard water area and I wanted soft water to at least feed the boiler and the washing machine. I wasn’t too worried about soft water to the toilets, hand basins, outside taps etc but due to the quirky pipe route into the house I had to compromise and leave the cold water to the bathrooms unsoftened. The only practical place to install was in the utility room at the rear of the house.
I looked at several different water softeners and opted for water 2 buy based on size, price and amazon reviews. I haven’t had much experience of plumbing and have no previous with water softeners and so this review can not compare to other devices. I decided to write a review because of the letter from water2buy requesting me to do so with the obvious bribe of a small packed of haribo sweets.
The unit was delivered very quickly and was well packed. I didn’t buy plumbing items and decided to work out what I need once it arrived and to buy from screwfix. I normally find that I buy several things that I don’t need and omit many that I do, and being able to get that all important widget on a Sunday morning is worth going local for. I did buy a water hardness testing kit (strips) to test the water at my house, this wasn’t from water2buy.
Anyway, I read the instructions (which were supplied in several languages) and reread several times. I tested the water supply for hardness and found it to be very very high. The strip went very dark brown within 2 seconds which is the top of the scale, this seems a bit too hard I thought and so I looked up the hardness on south west water web site. The showed the hardness at a much more sensible level, still hard but not Vinnie Jones hard. So, don’t trust the testing kit. I imagine that south west water probably use more than a testing kit from Amazon and I would believe them over a home kit. Anyway, helpful for testing the water post softener, more later… BTW, the scale for hardness is PPM in the water2buy (W2B) brochure and the south west water web site quotes several different units but none are PPM. However, searching on the internet showed PPM to be the same as CACO3. It would have been helpful if the manual had noted this and I expect W2B know this useful nugget.
Once the unit arrived, I worked out the materials for the install which included copper push joints Ts, couplers, washing machine outlet, copper pipe, flexi hoses, clips, stop taps, garden hose, waste pipe and extra U bend, jubilee clips (requirement discovered later), washing machine drain hose x2, coffee. I also purchased a small pipe cutter, pipe bender and push joint decoupler tool (needed this!). I used my existing tools which included cordless drill, screwdrivers, wire wool, grips, SDS drill with big bit (to drill through a 14″ brick and flint wall).
Work started on 6 nations final weekend, a bad weekend to start and not much got done. However, a very exciting end to the 6 nations and much better than plumbing. The following weekend was better (from a plumbing perspective but still some time until the World Cup) and I got almost to completion but with all jobs like this I don’t like to rush the end as once the main cold water pipes are cut there is no going back. It’s good to aim the finish to be on a Saturday lunch time as there is still Saturday PM and Sunday to cope with leaks, missing bits, faults, trips to A&E etc.
Anyway, back to the install…
The pipe install generally went well. Quite a bit of bending of pipe which was fun, do watch examples on youtube… my first attempt had a puckered inside radius. And don’t use the end of the copper pipe you buy, it will likely be slightly deformed and the push joints don’t like it… mine was and they didn’t, glad I bought the decoupler tool.
Once all the plumbing was done (see the picture) I connected the softener to the water supply and the drain feed to the waste water and the overflow to a hose to the outside (copper pipe through the wall though). I needed the jubilee clips now and didn’t have any and so I rummaged in the garage to find some. This made me think that it would have been helpful if W2B included a typical shopping list in the instructions.
It also became evident that the waste water (wash) outlet fouls the lid of the softener and so the lid doesn’t sit properly… come on W2B, its not rocket science is it! If you look at the close up picture you can just see the angle of the waste pipe. I also noticed at this point that I couldn’t read the illuminated panel or the rotating dial due to the position next to the freezer (this always happens at this point doesn’t it). Not the fault of the unit as I think it must be designed to fit lengthways under a sink and not sideways next to a freezer. I used my mobile phone camera at a angle to read the display while setting up… better than a mirror as its the right way around.
The set up instructions were OKish… I must have slightly different firmware in mine compared to the instructions as some of the options were different. I don’t seem to get the option to change the date but the instructions suggest that I should. Aside from this all went OK but I was a bit confused with the big dial thing, I couldn’t read the legends ( I know… sited sideways and not lengthways) but turned it to see what would happen… sudden gushing of water… quickly turned it all the way around and read the manual again… seems like a manual wash control. Anyway, reset back to start all all seemed OK.
The pictures in the manual weren’t great, it would help to have photos and more of them. The manual provided instructions to assemble certain parts which were already assembled on my unit., Not sure why but a bit confusing.
I ran the water for a while and then got out another strip tester and would you believe it the water was now soft rather than Vinnie Jones hard. Job done.
Its been working away for 4 days now and all seems OK. I don’t know how much salt it uses but as its a metered unit and only feeds hot water and washing machine I would hope it is not too bad. The manual contains a table to correlate the settings to the hardness and the number of people in the house. There are 4 in our house but as the softener is only doing hot water and washing machine I decided to use 3 people on the table to correlate the settings.
Overall I give it 4 starts. The negatives being the accuracy of the manual/instructions, poor pictures in the manual, the angle of the outlet meaning that the lid doesn’t fit properly and the firmware being different to the manual. On the plus side the unit appears well made, the instructions were clearly written by someone who speaks english (not sure about the other languages), delivery speed and free haribos.
Good luck!
These were my findings and others may not have the same experiences.
Firstly the top cover is very flimsy and was cracked in 2 places on arrival. I figured that this was not really an issue as it would be unseen and as it turned out I had to cut the back off of it to get it to fit where I sited the box. Not a great first impression but as I say it does not effect its operation.
Connections – I think most people if they are replacing a softener will have 22m washing machine hose type connectors. The unit came with 15 mm connectors and new ones were sent out but it took a week which was rather inconvenient. A tip, the two quick release connectors need to be pushed very firmly into their holes before securing with the safety clips. I didn’t have them in far enough to begin with but once in its a very secure fitting.
Settings – I initially set the machine up with the settings as described in the printed instructions. I was then led astray by watching the video on the suppliers site which had a very differing set of settings. This was complicated further by a google on AS200 which showed another video for this exact same model with another completely different set of figures. An email from Steve confirmed the printed document should be followed.
Primarily to test my plumbing I wanted to do a manual cycle through. The manual suggests that either just setting the machine to meter immediate or moving the switch to the backwash position will achieve this. It will not and putting it in backwash will just leave it there for good. Steve advised …to do a manual wash out you need to do is Change meter delayed to meter immediately Change the REG.CAP to 00.01 Then run about 1 to 2 litres out your cold or hot tap.
One final point, it does not mention is that block salt is ok to use with this and I find that much the easiest to use.
Over all a very good product just let down with a few things that are pretty easy to fix up going forward. I would still highly recommend this product.
Had a problem to begin with and wanted advice / different fittings (elbows instead of the straight inlet and outlet fittings supplied). Sent 2 emails and one phone call when I was promised an engineer would ring me that day. Nothing heard after 2 weeks, felt this was not good enough and wrote a review giving 1* as not possible to give zero.
Nothing wrong with the softener unit, it was easily fitted and set up… just different fittings would mean it fitted in the cupboard easier and more neatly.
Out of the blue 16 days after fitting I received a call from Stephen at Water2buy, a standard courtesy call apparently made to all new purchasers to check how the unit was running and to ask whether any problems….. Told him of my experiences so far, he could not have been more apologetic and promised he would investigate what had gone wrong in my case, and in the meantime send the new fittings requested together with a complimentary bag of salt.
So all is now well and I am now a very happy customer.
Read the reviews and decided to give it a go. Came very quickly with good installation instructions. Did not take very long to fit under the sink, only took up the space of the old pedal bin. Fitted a small worktop tap for drinking water and plumbed in easily using the fittings provided. Set it up to clean at 3.00 am and have yet to hear this process. Check water hardness every time the salt is refilled; this uses less than I thought it would. All sinks and taps much easier to clean and no longer use the calgon tablets in the cashing machine. We are extremely pleased with the unit and is very good value for money when you look at other products. Has been in two months and do not know it is there. An excellent product.
We recently bought this water softener to replace our old Fountain one that we had had for about 30 years and had finally given up the ghost.
Delivery was excellent we received within a few days and apart from having to alter the plumbing slightly the fitting was no problem. Watching the video to set it up is a must as the times are different to the manual. Our first thoughts were it seemed a bit flimsy compared to our old one but I suppose it is the same with most modern things and it certainly doesn’t affect Its performance in any way. We had a little hiccup after a couple of weeks after the electric went off we didn’t realise that the settings all reverted back premusably to the factory settings anyway after a phone call the problem was easily sorted out I do think this could be set out clearer in the manual but apart from that we cannot praise it too highly and it is far more efficient than the old one ever was
Thankyou for your excellent service and we would certainly recommend this item 100%
Update 27/03/15; after first regeneration 3 weeks ago, I noticed the water had become harder. I bought testers and, sure enough, it was back to hard water. The problem was, I discovered, that I needed to have added enough water to the brine tank before the first regeneration, as it does not fill before drawing out to recharge the beads. The instructions are not very clear on this point and only state to add a couple of liters. Not enough!! Half fill the brine tank to be sure.
Very competitively priced product easy to install and good silky soft water.
Apart from instructions for setting up the progammer the date window instruction had been removed without
changing the instructions, but Steve put us right straight away .An addendum note included with the instructions would have made the installation
a piece of cake. Only other fault is connection between the Transformer supply and the softenor the jack plug on our model was very sensitive so any jiggling of the transformer wire caused the programme screen to go on and off, so fixed it securely to the softenor with cable ties to make sure it could not be disturbed.
The softener which is replacing an old one is working well and water softness is to expectations. I have been away on holiday but will now be monitoring the softness of the water over the next few weeks.
Delivery was prompt and the few queries I had during installation were responded to promptly and satisfactorily.
Excellent customer service !
This I overcame by turning manually through each stage, this was following the `User Guide`menu, in which details wildly differing between Guide, PDF & Tv video.IE; Rinse in Guide = 1min. PDF = 4 MIN. Video =15 min. Other info was similar.
I do hope that the service from the softener is comparable to my previous three softener units over 40 years?
Three stars due to the delays in the clarification information.Some delays could be attributable to their use of an international number which my telephone rejects,as well as withheld. Subsequent frustrations are. Steven, thank you for the bag of salt & the test strips received today. When I tested the water from the mains it read 250 ppm or 15. The softened water was the same 250 ppm or 15.(still hard).
The regeneration was currently set to 0.96 for 4 persons. This as per manual. As there are only 2 persons in our house I thought this to be an extra margin to consume.
It had been 18 days since the last regeneration, this perhaps it is not sufficient? If this was set to regenerate as a 340 ppm at 0.72 three persons, this should then regenerate more frequently. Do you agree this is a possible solution to the problem of not providing softened water.
To date water2buy has not responded to my query. I feel that the problems are related mainly to the variation between the Manual, the PDF & the Video on fitting the softener.
This resulting in overloading the inquiry line at water2buy. When a response is obtained it is exemplary.
The revised settings , on this trial & error with the PDF files have achieved `softened water 0 ppm.`Now give 4 stars. despite the frustrations.
A nice bit of kit from a company committed to customer service at a great price.Any problems contact Steven who will guide you through the process and replace any parts damaged by the courrier, namely the top or hood of the unit.In Steven you have the fountain of all knowledge, he will guide you through the process and make the plumbers life a breeze installing this marvellous bit of kit. I would definately recommend water2buy to all my friends and family, a top company with a huge customer service committment.
This was our first experience of a water softener and before buying we were a little unsure as to if we needed one or not. But after reading around and looking at various manufacturers we settled on an AS200 from Water2Buy as it had great reviews around the web, is much more affordable than most of it’s competitors and Water2Buy had a great reputation for quality and support. I’m so glad we did! Installation was a breeze as was configuring the units settings.
We’re now enjoying all the benefits of the soft water and hope to never have to go back to hard water again.
If you’re like I was and not sure as to whether it’s worth it and you’re in a hard water area I can honestly say it is! We’re using less detergents, our plates are cleaner and showering is a luxury. Highly recommended.
I have suffered hard water forever and the consequences that come with that, i.e. replacing kettles every couple of years, scaled up taps, limescaled hot water cylinder ( adding to my already spiralling energy costs). I know about these things as a recently retired Gas/Heating engineer. So I bit the bullet and purchased the water softener, what a result. I chose the Water2Buy unit, the cost was lower than most, so I had certain reservations but all were unfounded. Just to prove how good these things are I have a glass kettle which was covered in limescale. Within 3 weeks it was clear of all residue and looked like new, I thought my wife had cleaned the kettle and she thought that I had done it. If your suffering with hard water I recommend you seriously consider buying one.
With your delivery you will receive a 10% Discount Code to be applied against your next purchase. However, this so-called discount could actually cost you money as it can only be applied against purchases made from the official water2buy web site, where the inflated prices are considerably in excess of Amazon prices.
Also, if you are considering buying this product be extra confident of your internal kitchen cabinet measurements. We have a normal size under sink unit and our plumber had a very hard job getting it in – you have to add the space required for the in and out piping to the depth of the softener and allow for the piping to bend naturally so that the water can flow freely.
The softener itself was easy to install (by my father) but he did need help in programming it. He received fantastic telephone support from Steven at Water2buy who talked him through what he needed to do – he spent a good half an hour or more sorting it out for us, an excellent service.
Whilst I can’t yet comment on the performance of the softener, so far so good and I would highly recommend this Company.
Power supply is rated at 12V / 650 mA. This would pull 18 Watts max but in normal operation it is significantly less than this, it barely registers on my wattmeter, making it economical to run.
Unit is metered. This means that regeneration only occurs when it’s needed and so salt will not be wasted.
Water2Buy have posted various instructional videos on Youtube covering installation and troubleshooting.
Installation of the water supply took about an hour, just cutting out a section of water pipe and fitting a couple of Speedfit elbows. The waste pipe (like any water softener) mustn’t be sited where there can be any backflow of waste/sewage but that wasn’t a problem, so long as there is an air gap between the outlet of the unit’s waste pipe and the drain. Running a power supply wasn’t difficult, especially as the unit only draws minimum power.
No experience yet of the long term efficiency of the AS200 but nothing to suggest that there will be anything to criticise; would certainly purchase the unit again, so far. Will update review in a few months once the water softener has been in use for a while.
ADDENDUM: not related to the water softener directly but to the effectiveness of its use – I drained down the hot water cylinder and completely de-scaled it prior to installing the water softener as there’s not much point installing an efficient water softener if its softened product then sits in a tank half full of limescale and the benefit is lost. TIP…..getting the limescale out (we’re in a very hard water area) can be a pain as de-scaling solutions only remove half their weight of limescale (we had over 10kg of limescale in the tank !). I worked out the answer by draining the tank and then putting the nozzle of a wet-and-dry vacuum cleaner through the immersion heater opening and sucking out all of the limescale, which can take a long time but is cheaper and easier than paying 250+ for a new tank (plus the labour cost).
My unit came with 3/4″ BSP fittings but had two 3/4″-15mm couplings for use if you need them. (I chose to plumb my unit in with 22mm pipes, valves and connectors.) Installation and set-up is fairly simple. They offer an installation video. (but I hope I made a better job of it than they did…)
The unit is very effective; reduced my water hardness from 300ppm to “SOFT” according to the B&Q hardness testing kit. Hopefully, over time, the scale in my hot tank, taps, shower mixer and pipework will gradually dissolve; at least the problems won’t get any worse.
Here are some tips:
1)It is worth noting that the tables for hardness settings in the manual are based upon an average consumption of 100 litres per person per day. UK average is 150 litres (and we use more than that) – so adjust your Regeneration Capacity setting accordingly.
2)The paper manual and the installation video disagree about the Backwash, Brine and Rinse times. Latest online manual says Rinse 5 minutes brine 20 minutes, rinse 5 minutes and refill 6 minutes. This seems to work OK and does not waste too much water.
3)The first screen you see after holding down the “Menu” key for 5 seconds is the status screen. At the bottom of the screen is a counter that counts down in 10 litre decrements from your Regeneration Capacity setting until it hits zero; when it reaches zero it will execute a regeneration cycle at the next opportunity. When you set the Regeneration Capacity, it sets that value into the status screen regardless of what was there before – so you should make any changes on the morning after a regeneration cycle.
4)Manual regeneration has to be done as per the website: […]
5)Take care when pulling the top off the unit. It is held on by four fragile-looking lugs.
UPDATE 2.5 years on…
The small turbine that activates the Hall-effect sensor has two small magnets pressed into each side. These tend to rust and the turbine sticks. If you find that the the unit is not producing soft water, check that the regeneration counter is going down. If not, you can do the following:
1 dismantle the bypass valve assembly from the unit
2 remove the pepper-pot end on the outlet
3 with long-nosed pliers, pull out the turbine retaining ring (it is only pushed in)
4 carefully file the rust off the magnets and leave the turbine to dry overnight
5 apply a thin coat of nail varnish to the magnets and
6 reassemble in reverse order.