Water softeners for hard water in Yanchep, Two Rocks and the northern suburbs

Cloudy shower screens. White crust around the taps. A kettle that rattles with scale. If that sounds like your place, you’re not imagining it: the northern suburbs have some of the hardest water in Perth.

Here’s why, what a water softener does about it, and what to expect if you have one installed.

Hard water, right where you live

Perth’s water typically carries 180 to 220 mg/L of calcium and magnesium. Anything above 60 mg/L counts as hard water, and more than 78% of monitored water sources in Perth test as hard. Some of the suburbs we service, including Neerabup, Two Rocks and Yanchep, sit above 200 mg/L.

The reason is underground. A big share of Perth’s water comes from groundwater, including the Gnangara and Jandakot aquifers, and it filters slowly through limestone on the way, picking up calcium and magnesium as it goes.

That’s what you’re scrubbing off the shower screen. It also builds up where you can’t see it: inside hot water systems, washing machines, dishwashers and pipes. Scale build-up can push a hot water system’s energy use up by 15 to 30% and can halve its life.

What a softener does, and what it doesn’t

People often mix up softening and filtering. They’re two different jobs.

A water softener removes the calcium and magnesium, the minerals that make water hard. That means:

• no more cloudy film on shower screens
• less scale in kettles and hot water systems
• longer life for appliances and fixtures
• softer, cleaner laundry
• better soap lathering, so you use less detergent.

A water filter removes chlorine, sediment and chemicals, and improves taste and smell. A softener on its own won’t do that.

Perth water has both problems, hardness and contamination. That’s why Sean recommends filtration with softening for most Perth families: our whole-house system with a Puretec softener filters and softens in one installation, so you get clean, soft water at every tap.

What the install looks like

The softener goes in where the water comes into the house, usually next to the filtration system, so all the water that reaches your taps has been through both.

The photos below are from real installs. In a garage, the softener stands on the floor, connected to the blue filter housings on the wall above with copper pipework. Outside, it sits beside the house next to the covered filter system. Your softener’s salt sits right beside the unit, so topping it up is easy.

Every install is done by a licensed plumber. If you already have a whole-house filter, ask us whether a softener can be added to your existing setup.

Looking after it

• Salt: a softener uses softener salt, and it needs topping up from time to time. We’ll show you what to use and where it goes.
• Filters: if your softener is paired with our whole-house filtration, the filters typically last 15 months between changes, and we send an automated SMS when they’re due.
• Service: if anything doesn’t seem right, such as scale coming back or the water feeling hard again, give us a call and we’ll check it over.

Is a softener worth it?

If you’re forever cleaning screens and descaling the kettle, or you’ve had an appliance give up early, a softener tackles the cause rather than the symptoms. Paired with filtration, it covers both of Perth’s water problems in one go.

You can pay with Afterpay, PayPal or credit card, interest-free financing is available, and there are no lock-in contracts.

Book a free quote

We install softeners across Joondalup, Neerabup, Yanchep, Two Rocks, Moore River and the northern suburbs. Read more about water softeners, see our work, or get a free quote and we’ll recommend the right setup for your home.