What is the difference between a Scale inhibitor and a Water Softener?
A water softener uses chemicals and an ion exchange mechanism to remove the hard salts from your supply. Softened water is not considered suitable for drinking in all circumstances, so a separate tap for drinking water should be installed. Scale inhibitors (a term covering a range of technologies) do not remove hard salts or soften the water. Instead, they prevent the salts settling on surfaces to form limescale. Hard water is considered beneficial to drink because the body needs calcium and magnesium salts in the diet.
