Water2Buy EASY W2B200 Water Softener, Hi Flow Electronic Demand/Up to 6 People – Filtered Soft Water 1250 litres/Day, NSF/FDS/ISO 9001 & 14001 Certified, 100% Limescale Removed/App Reminder for Salt

This is a comparatively high-end water-softener which I purchased through Amazon in February 2013 for under £350. It has a 15-litre resin tank and a flow-rate capable of dealing with the needs of a directly connected household of up to 4 people at a hardness of 300 ppm (e.g. Megaflow and mains cold taps). I decided to fit it only to the feeds to the hot water cylinder and washing machine but leave the cold taps and loo cisterns on hard water. I am certain the flow rate would cope with both but there seemed no point in flushing the loo with softened water. 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.

Update after 4.5 years. Absolutely no faults or issues whatsoever after 4.5 years. All I do is add salt and it's working as good today as when I bought it. 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!

This thing is a beast! I have 3 teenage kids and a 10-year old and we get through a LOT of water. About 200,000 litres a year, I reckon. Plumber was going to fit a self-powered unit with a 3litre resin tank. I calculated that it would regenerate more than once per day with our current usage; letting through hard water at random times of each day and needing a salt refill every week. In contrast, the W2B800 is designed for a big household and with an 18litre resin tank and an ENOROMOUS salt tank. Just what I was looking for. You need to find a decent space to install it - won't go in an under-sink cupboard. 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).

I bought this to replace an ageing softener that had malfunctioned. Over all I think it is a very good product and it seems keenly priced when compared with others on the market. Ultimately it does its job if your water is soft whether the machine cost £1000 or £300. So from that point of view it does the job and I would have given it 5 stars if not for just a couple of things. 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.

I bought this after years of wanting a softener. We live in Surrey where the water is hard and I’m sick of limescale. Firstly the results, great. Instant soft water and it got softer after a week as I suspect the limescale in all the pipes was removed. Already saving money on soap and detergents and time cleaning shower screens. Softened water does taste a bit different, I don’t like it so have left a tap in the kitchen for drinking. Also left the garden taps on Unsoftened water. This unit, the w2b800, is pretty big, but the bigger the better. The unit is configured to regenerate after a certain volume of water is passed through it(metered). It then runs a regeneration cycle at 3am. You test the water with a kit supplied to work out the config to use and set it up via the little screen on the top of the device. We regenerate every 5.7 cubic meters. For a family of 4 this is about 12 days worth of water. When it regenerates it uses about 90l of water and some salt (regeneration is effectively flushing the resin core that catches the limescale with salty water to clean it). This is far less often and more efficient than smaller units, so fit the biggest you can get in. The unit will hold about 75kg of salt, which I think will last a long time, perhaps a year....again very efficient compared to smaller units. Fitting it was a little complex as I had to divert the mains to the plant room where the unit lives and back again. Getting the right fittings was a pain, the 800 is made for 3/4 inch fittings and flexis in this size are very hard to find, so I called the w2b support team and they sent free adapters to allow 22mm pipes to connect. I then found flexi pipes with built in elbows on the net (actually from a softener company). Set up was ok, but to be honest the instructions are a bit vague in places. You need to read the info on the web and the printed stuff that comes with it...but it’s a bit spread out and hard to follow initially, really they need a nice printed walk through that covers everything. For instance there is a little black mixer valve on the unit that you can adjust to allow some water to bypass the unit, this is not mentioned anywhere on the printed notes and I only happened across it somewhere on the website....if this is open the unit barely softens the water so it’s quite important. The support guy is great, very helpful and responsive. So all in all I’m very happy. Get the biggest softener you can fit in for higher efficiency.

On the face of it this would seem a good buy. Reasonable price and long guarantee but my experience with dealing with them has made me very wary. The machine arrived super quickly due to Amazon not Water2Buy. I discovered that the inlet and outlet fittings come straight out of the back of the machine. I based the suitability of the machine on the dimensions given in the specification. However with straight fittings and depending on the flexibility of the hoses this requires at least another 6 to 8 inches As I do not have that space I require connections with elbows that allow the hoses to come straight up. After several emails to and from Water2Buy they did agree to supply the required connections. However that is where the saga begins. After a week of waiting and not hearing from Water2Buy I contacted them and they supplied the DPD tracking information. From this I gathered that the parts were being sent from the Czech Republic. As the online tracking information was very confusing I contacted DPD direct but they could not give me any idea when the parcel would arrive due to the vagaries of the French and British Customs but said it would be at least another7 days. That will be nearly 3 weeks in transit. I did query why the parts were sent from the Czech Republic as Water2Buy would appear to have offices in the UK and Ireland but have not had a response. This situation has given me concerns about what would happen if there is a problem in the future. Its all very good having a 5 year guarantee but not so good if it takes an inordinate amount of time to get the required parts. I cannot report on the operation of the machine as I have not been able to install it as yet.

This is an enormous water softener; it will not fit into a cupboard under the sink, however if like me you have a water supply comes in through the garage, this sits in the corner and does its thing quietly, effectively and because it is so big, you can top it up with salt and leave it alone for weeks. I had this fitted by my plumber ( I am personally not capable of connecting 2 pipes together without causing a disaster, however I saw what the plumber had to do and had I been remotely competent, I could very easily have done it myself). As this machine is metered, it only regenerates when it needs to (not every night at a specified time irrespective of use) so if your household goes from 2 people to 10 people and back to 2 again as you are invaded by family for Christmas who then depart in the new year, then the machine increases or decreases its regeneration according to need. Unless you have tried softened water, I can't explain it, it is not possible to describe the difference, other than to say once you have experienced really soft water, you will never want to go back to water that is not softened. (It also has the added advantage of not leaving a deposit on the taps, sink etc.. and if it is like that on the outside of the pipes, the insides of the pipes must have previously been equally as deposit clogged; over time, this will be removed. I previously had one of those machines that uses salt blocks, good though it was, the price difference for this machine is substantial; this is literally a quarter of the price, for a machine that does the same job, equally as well without the need to purchase specialist salt. To say that "I love this" as indicated by the stars is possibly exaggeration, it's a water softener; as functional household kit I will never "love" it; however it is a very good water softener at an outstanding price; I recommend it to my friends, colleagues and family; there is no stronger advocate.

Update 30/03/21: We have very hard water in the Chilterns. For a few months I was disappointed by how quickly the water would go hard again after a regen (less than 200ltrs) and it was regenning every night. I was using granular salt and noticed that the tank wasn't refilling for very long (~30 seconds). The newer model has a float valve in the tank (inside a long grey tube). I was using granulated salt and this is so fine that the water when refilling is not able to dissipate out of the grey tube quickly and is instead filling it up, closing the float valve. The solution is to use salt tablets or blocks. -------- So the newest model which arrived at my house late November 2020 doesn't have an overflow on the side - so I queried and got the answer that they’ve updated the design so that there is now a float valve in the tank which means it can no longer be overfilled. Great, makes the install job easier. Our supply pipe enters, there's a stop cock then a spur off to my utility room sink and outside tap, I cut the other side of the spur which is in 15mm copper pipe and fitted an elbow appliance tap on each side of the cut. To these I connected new 1.2m braided steel hoses with 3/4 connectors and right-angled at one end (£9/ea) which run to and from the water softner. I originally used washing machine hoses but got worried about one failing and leaking. For the waste outlet I used garden hose into the washing machine standpipe. The washing machine needs less than half the detergent it used before, otherwise you end up with very soapy clothes at the end! We use hard water for cold drinks for flavour reasons but soft water in the kettle/coffee machine for the sake of avoiding limescale. The Water2Buy sales e-mail address have been very helpful so far, I had a couple of questions re warranty and also the regen settings which I wanted to tinker with so if regened less often. They replied to both within a few hours with knowledgeable responses. No issues with water pressure. So far so good, the showers are cleaner, and chrome plug holes and the like don't collect scale like they used to.

Ik heb deze waterontharder 2 jaar geleden gekocht en geïnstalleerd in mijn eigen woning. Tot nu toe is het een erg goede koop geweest met een geweldige prijs/kwaliteit verhouding. Je moet de aansluitset en een zak zout wel apart bestellen, maar dat mag de pret niet drukken. Eenvoudig te installeren mits je handig met koper waterleiding en koppelingen bent, anders zou ik adviseren het te laten doen. Let er wel op dat een dergelijk apparaat ook een afvoer nodig heeft voor het doorspoelen.

En fonctionnement depuis 1an et demi, j'ai le recul suffisant pour affirmer que cet adoucisseur est parfait. Peu encombrant, efficace et pas cher, il répond exactement à mes attentes. Il aura été facilement installé par mes soins dès sa réception et son installation est à la portée de tout bon bricoleur. Cependant, il faudra prévoir la fourniture des raccordements (tuyaux) avec idéalement un bypass et la pose d'une cartouche filtrante est recommandée. Sa mise en route est aisée et ses réglages sont facilités par une application sur smartphone. Le SAV a été très réactif lorsque je me suis rendu compte que le compteur de débit de l'adoucisseur était faussé. Ce dernier comptait plus de volume consommé que la réalité. De ce fait, il y avait trop de régénérations. Pouvant procéder au remplacement par moi-même sans intervention extérieure, le SAV m'a rapidement envoyé une nouvelle carte électronique qui a immédiatement corrigé le problème. La consommation de sel est raisonnable, environ 25 Kg de sel par trimestre, soit environ 30m3 d'eau traitée. Hormis l'ajout de sel, il n'y a rien d'autre à faire... on l'installe et on l'oublie. La régénération est programmée la nuit et s'effectue lorsque le volume d'eau traitée est atteint selon vos besoins (à paramétrer). Cela est différent des adoucisseurs qui regénèrent automatiquement à des intervalles fixes quelle que soit votre consommation, gage d’économie de sel. Enfin, son alimentation est en 12 volts via un adaptateur secteur 220 volts. Pour résumer, petit mais costaud, je recommande vivement cet appareil.

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Compré este modelo por sus prestaciones y tamaño, ya que cabe perfectamente en el mueble de la cocina, debajo del fregadero, por donde pasa la entrada general de agua a la casa. Intercalar este aparato en la entrada de la red general es fácil y rápido. Eso si, ocupa un hueco entero del armario, pero vale la pena. El manejo es sencillo y fácil de configurar, en función de las necesidades de cada uno. Y el consumo de sal, adecuado a su rendimiento: un saco de 25 kg me dura todo 1 año. Además, estéticamente es agradable, además de limpio y recogido. Sin duda, volvería a comprarlo.

Installed it 4 weeks ago to test. First it dont have bleutooth / wifi app conectivity. What i thought from description. Actually you dont need that but he i thought. Then overall it wil cost some you some headbreaking to install. I orderded the 1" flexi pipes high flow and they are huge. So needed adaptor fittings to create a extra bypass on my main holland 22mm pipes. Then the manual is rubbish got to the water2buy website help page for a machine tune on your local waterhardness figure. Tune/programme the machine accordenly otherwise you use a lot of extra wather and salt. Hardness went from 10dh to 0dh but, as we use also coffee thee etc znd didnt like the taste of wather so much i used the valve to tune / test it to 3dh wich is fine. Overall good buy till now for that price with some off time invested.