Lime scale - which type of filter/system.

[CharlieH]

I have a real problem with lime scale, not only does it look awful it rots everything in the kitchen and bathroom.

 

Any suggestions or recomendations on the best filter to install to remove the problem ?

 

Thanks.

[bankruatsteve]

A water softener.  Otherwise, use only stainless steel.  The filters inside the nozzle will still build up but easy to clean.  The crap that looks like SS is the worst and will start corroding within months - nothing you can do to restore it.

[CharlieH]

I have binned countless shower heads and pipes and bum gun pipes, now all replaced with white plastic.

 

The stop cocks have seized up and just snap off when trying to replace them. Gone through 3 water meters too !! All seized up with the lime scale.

[Jai Dee]

I lived and worked for a while in an area of South Australia where the water was exceptionally hard, and caused lime scale buildup.

 

We used white vinegar to remove it.

 

Sometimes we'd wrap the taps (stop cocks) with paper towels soaked in vinegar and leave them overnight.

 

Give it a try.

 

Look here.

[CharlieH]

I was hoping to remove the problem before it needs cleaning off. If it can be filtered out/treated in some way.

[Jai Dee]

Have you checked the pH?

Is it exceptionally high? (pH > 7.6)

 

If so, the only way you can effectively treat it is with the addition of acetic or hydrochloric acid, the optimum pH value being in the range of 7.2 to 7.6.

Like a swimming pool...

 

Washing soda (sodium carbonate - Na2CO3) or baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate - NaHCO3) can also help as a water softener.

[KhunBENQ]

Only chance is filtering ("softening") the incoming water.

There are specialized carbon filter systems.

But be prepared for a price over 10000 and as far as I know they have to be "refilled" regularly.

Probably with some stuff like described by JaiDee in previous post.

I decided against and got used to clean (with vinegar) and replace from time to time.

Edited March 5, 2017 by KhunBENQ
carbon was a mixup

[wpcoe]

30 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

I was hoping to remove the problem before it needs cleaning off. If it can be filtered out/treated in some way.

That's what a water softener does, per @bankruatsteve's suggestion above.

[Lamkyong]

1 hour ago, bankruatsteve said:

A water softener.  Otherwise, use only stainless steel.  The filters inside the nozzle will still build up but easy to clean.  The crap that looks like SS is the worst and will start corroding within months - nothing you can do to restore it.

 like SS ????

[bankruatsteve]

2 minutes ago, Lamkyong said:

 like SS ????

If you are asking me to explain something I posted, please expand on your question as I don't follow what you are asking or trying to say.

[Lamkyong]

sorry i just wondered what SS  meant  for a man/person that writes with abbreviations  i really thought  you would have understood   just a short piece of script 

[bankruatsteve]

In my post, I initially called out "stainless steel".  So anyway, "SS" has been routinely used as an abbreviation for "stainless steel" in this forum.  There you go.

[eyecatcher]

a lot of hot air being blown about yet I am surprised no one has answered the question.

 

there isnt a lot anyone can do about your incoming water supply as the high calcium content can only de dealt with by the water authority.

 

As it gets to your property however, you can simply add a limescale filter. they are common, the big blue filters like this, about 600mm long.

 

 

In fact I saw one just the other day in a restaurant. It was fixed between the water tank and the pump to the rest of the building, so at the same time its protecting the gubbins inside the pump.

 

You can get them at Home Pro and the likes. Dont quote me but I think they are circa 4k baht for these big ones.

 

I can understand the vinegar experiment but all you can achieve there is the actual tap head outlet, or an iron or the inside of a kettle. the problem lies within the pipes and tap itself when the water evapourates and leaves behind the calcium deposits, and no amount of vinegar is going to address the root problem.

[bankruatsteve]

Well, if that's a "water softener" that's what several of us have posted.  There is no "filter" for calcium (other than RO which would be ridiculous).   

[eyecatcher]

31 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

Well, if that's a "water softener" that's what several of us have posted.  There is no "filter" for calcium (other than RO which would be ridiculous).   

You are right, there are no filters for calcium and those things look like every other filter granted. water softening is about preventing those calcium deposits depositing inside pipes.

 

so the good news is you dont get hard water, the bad news is you end up drinking it instead (i think?)

[bankruatsteve]

Water "softeners" work by replacing calcium ions with sodium (there's other types but that's the normal).  So, it ends up tasting a bit "salty" but safe to drink.  Minerals in water is what gives it taste.  Pure H2O would probably be something you want to spit out.

[David B in Thailand]

Home pro in Buriram sells a made in the USA Ion exchange resin tank with timers for a princely sum.  Resin in a large fiberglass or stainless steel 50 liter water filter that you backwash once a week can go a long way to solving limescale problems in my observation. Some homes have two resin filters in a row.  It is simple to backwash a water filter tank if the shop that installs it gives you directions in English with photos. Pure Water Filter has a franchise shop in Buriram and resin media is suggested for limescale issues in Isaan water. 

[CharlieH]

Spoke with one shop today and they suggested a tall 5ft Stainless steel tube/tank with resin filter that requires the resin replaced every two years. Price 14,900  for tube/tank installation and pipework etc.

[Allstars]

8 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Spoke with one shop today and they suggested a tall 5ft Stainless steel tube/tank with resin filter that requires the resin replaced every two years. Price 14,900  for tube/tank installation and pipework etc.

Resin also needs to be regenerated frequently, depending on your lime content and water usage probably every month, so the installation should come with a brine tank as well.

[wpcoe]

Has anybody seen "portable" water softeners here in Thailand?  And/or anybody have first-hand experience with one, either here or "back home"?

 

It's not something I would want to blindly order over the internet, as I'd like some product support.  Things like:  http://www.watersoftenercritic.com/watts-rv-water-softener-reviews/ or http://www.softwaterlab.com/best-portable-water-softener-reviews/ that might be useful in a condo unit?