Glad we have a water softener. Wont go back to not having one. Get a water test kit from screwfix for a fiver if you want to know how hard your water is. Wife had excema and is all gone. Less cleaning chemicals, such as descaler, which probably does more damage to the water table than the salt it uses. Ours is an old fashion timer, but more modern machines adjust back flushing relative to water usage. We get through a 25 kg of salt every 6 to 7 weeks, which is about £7 , if you buy a few bags. We save more on buying that than the cleaning and soap products, washing powders, descalers. Also less effort to clean the house etc. We left the sink tap in the kitchen on mains, so didnt put an extra tap there. When looking, I spoke to plumbers about the different products on the market, such as magnets, chrystal devices. They all said, dont go halfway, just get the softener. For us in the home counties is worth its weight in gold.