Water and limescale
Hard water does not damage a bathroom; it blocks it. Aerators clog, nozzle faces spray sideways, cartridges seize and dark finishes display a white film that the usual cleaner is forbidden to touch. Every choice here is made on whether the part can be cleaned or replaced.
Four choices, each made on how the part behaves once deposit starts.
The RONVIE self-cleaning face is the single most useful property in this family in hard water. Flexible cones give their deposit up to a thumb, dry, in about a minute; a drilled metal face has to be soaked, and soaking is what a coloured finish cannot take.
The PERLATOR set treats the screen as what it is: a part that blocks and is replaced. In hard water an aerator is an annual item rather than a permanent one, and buying several at once is cheaper than buying one each time.
The Wiltec softening unit is a scale product. Read its capacity against your own hardness — the same unit treats twice as much soft water as hard water between regenerations — and read the running cost as salt rather than as a purchase price.
The Waterdrop under-sink system addresses what its manufacturer declares it addresses, which is chlorine taste and particles rather than hardness. It is on this list because people buy it expecting the other thing, and it is worth saying which is which.
Wiping a shower screen after use changes more than any of the above, and costs nothing. It is the free half of living with hard water, and it is why this page is not only a shopping list.
Rain head · 28 cm round (11 in) · self-cleaning rod mechanism · brass nut and brass ball joint · G1/2
The only head in this catalogue with a moving self-cleaning mechanism: a rod that rises with the water and pushes deposits out when you turn it off.
Best for: A hard-water household tired of wiping nozzles, on a supply strong enough to fill 28 cm.
≈ £29 / 29 €
Aerator · M18.5 screw-in · about 5.7 l/min stated · POM plastic, made in Germany · four supplied with a service key · drinking-water requirements independently confirmed
The genuine water-saving option in this hub — about 5.7 l/min against 12 to 15 for a full-flow aerator.
Best for: A basin used many times a day for washing hands, where a third of the flow is entirely sufficient.
≈ 11 €
Water softener · ion exchange · 500 l/h maximum flow · 1.5–5 bar operating pressure · brine tank for 10 kg of salt · hardness set on a display
An entry-level ion-exchange softener that publishes its flow and its operating pressure — and makes a claim about health that this page does not repeat.
Best for: A small household or a single appliance line in a hard-water area, where the budget will not stretch to a metered unit.
≈ 310 €
Under-sink filter · IAPMO certified, searchable as WD-UL12A · NSF/ANSI 42 and 372 · up to 11 000 gallons or 12 months · 5.026 l/min · drill-free mounting · does NOT reduce TDS, stated
A filter whose certification can be looked up by model number, with a filter-life indicator that beeps — and a mounting that needs no drilling.
Best for: A rented kitchen or a cupboard nobody wants drilled, where the certification should be verifiable.
≈ £75 / 75 €
Your supplier publishes it by postcode, in °dH, °f or mg/l of calcium carbonate. Every softener capacity is quoted against a hardness figure, so the numbers cannot be compared without yours.
No, and this site does not make that claim. It treats limescale; softened water carries more sodium rather than less, and drinking water quality is a matter for your supplier.
Check what the manufacturer allows. Most state that acidic descalers must not be used on coloured or coated finishes, and the damage is not reversible. Wiping after use is the maintenance that actually works on those.
Drying surfaces after use. Scale forms where water evaporates, so removing the water removes the cause.
Scale inside the head, almost certainly. Descaling restores it, and doing the hose at the same time keeps it restored.
No. Some finishes and natural stone are permanently damaged. Check what the manufacturer permits first.
It is the only permanent answer, with an installation cost and ongoing consumables. In very hard water many people conclude it is.
A squeegee after each shower. It takes seconds and prevents the marks rather than fighting them later.
It holds marks permanently, which is why abrasives make the problem worse rather than better.
Taps, shower systems and mirror cabinets swing by fifty euros or more across the year, and the biggest "discounts" often land at prices the same model sold for six weeks earlier. UniverTrack tracks the real price history across retailers, spots fake reductions, and alerts you when it is genuinely the moment to buy.
