Hard or Soft Water in Tenerife?

A serious question from my favourite ewe: is it necessary to feed the washing machine with anti-scale tabs such as Calgon? I suspect I won´t only be getting serious answers! And the head ram stood in front of his flock and said "I need three volunteers for sex tonight" The punch line please on a postcard to...Smith´s Farm, Darley Dale, Matlock, Derbyshire WTF69 UPY

On a serious note,i never had trouble with the water or limescale in the machine,

There should be next to no limescale in Tenerife. Its all volcanic rock ( no limestone).

Thanks, guys, I´ll pass the message on to my woolly one. The build-up on our taps and in the loo must be salt then; we´ve been using anti-scale spray!!

I only noticed the postcode now!

Yes, I put an anti calc tab (just the cheap ones from Mercadona) in both washing machine and dishwasher every 2nd wash, you only have to look at your kettle to see how quickly it builds up. I've had my machines since moving here my dishwasher has only just given up the ghost but that is due to the timerswitch that needs replacing and not got round to it. I know others that have gone through 2 in that sort of timescale.

Tenerife has soft water, lathers up easy.

Gypsy wrote:Yes, I put an anti calc tab (just the cheap ones from Mercadona) in both washing machine and dishwasher every 2nd wash, you only have to look at your kettle to see how quickly it builds up. I've had my machines since moving here my dishwasher has only just given up the ghost but that is due to the timerswitch that needs replacing and not got round to it. I know others that have gone through 2 in that sort of timescale.

Where is your water coming from Gypsy? If there is no limestone on the island, the water shouldn't be hard.

all the water comes from the galleries which are tunnels dug into the volcano,thats why when i collect it from the streams ,its is warm in the winter . i did notice large ´´danger poison´´ notices at the local water plant,where they add what they add to the local water supply (i get mine upstream before that,about same height as the trout farm)

TVTenerife wrote:all the water comes from the galleries which are tunnels dug into the volcano,thats why when i collect it from the streams ,its is warm in the winter . i did notice large ´´danger poison´´ notices at the local water plant,where they add what they add to the local water supply (i get mine upstream before that,about same height as the trout farm)

Ah, the trout farm...that's where I always need a pee after a long walk...

I don't have limescale

3rdforum wrote:

Where is your water coming from Gypsy? If there is no limestone on the island, the water shouldn't be hard.

Not sure think it comes from underground reservoirs I know it has a funny taste from all the minerals, so wouldn't make a habit of drinking it.

We recently had a new water heater fitted, not that anything was wrong but it was getting old. The guy who did it, Frankie Fixit (brilliant workman would recommend him for most jobs) was surprised it had lasted so long because the life is usually 4 or 5 years. You can have them cleaned and descaled but there is no guarantee, by paying slightly more we had a new one fitted and the old one which was 8 years old was about 60% calc which we were heating.

Should have said, Frankie comes from Leeds and on the phone he sounds just like Reg. I want him to decorate the whole house while we are away at Christmas. He has done tiling, carpentry and plumbing. He has a couple of young men who also work for him Manuel is from Wakefield and does all the electrics.

Salt of the earth yorkshire people, ,

Yeah, Jack of all trades, old skool.

Whose the pepper of the earth then?...

Perfectspecimen wrote:Yeah, Jack of all trades, old skool.

We had to be Vince, Skint members in them days,

People often comment on my carpentry skills. They say are you a carpenter? No, I did woodwork at school. If you got it wrong Mr Brocklebank would hit you with 'Fagin', a 3 foot long length of inch square stick he kept on the front of his desk.
Measure twice, cut once!
Yes Sir!
Still do now.
Since getting into boats I love working with hardwood. Well, dont we all.

Perfectspecimen wrote:People often comment on my carpentry skills. They say are you a carpenter? No, I did woodwork at school. If you got it wrong Mr Brocklebank would hit you with 'Fagin', a 3 foot long length of inch square stick he kept on the front of his desk.
Measure twice, cut once!
Yes Sir!
Still do now.
Since getting into boats I love working with hardwood. Well, dont we all.

In works canteen one day conversation got round to DIY kitchen installation and associated cock-ups, one guy John started giggling to himself in the corner, come on spill the beans there’s a story in there somewhere we say, eventually we prise story out of him, he’s fitting a new kitchen, but at same time things were not going good between him and the wife. He’s at the stage of fitting the worktops, he measures the worktop length required, 89”, cuts it out of the length of worktop he has purchased, gets wife to assist by supporting one end of worktop as he fits it in to position, concentrating on the fit of the end he is holding, he starts getting harassed by the wife;
“John, something’s wrong”
“Shut-up I’m concentrating on getting this right”
“But John someth,,,,,”
“Will you shut-up woman, I’m going to have to trim this”
“But John,,,,,”
He turns around to give her a mouthful,,,,,
The worktops about a couple of feet to short........
He had been looking at the tape measure upside down and had marked and cut the worktop at 68”...

I was putting a roof up on a new build once and this guy on house next door cut his first rafter, offered it up, yep spot on. Then used each rafter to cut the next, instead of the first, inch an a quarter out at t'other end.
Limescale on the rock and sheep, I have only just got this as laptop packed up and have been using phone to look in. How many sheep do i put in the washing machine and do they get a wooly wash.

Gypsy wrote:

3rdforum wrote:

Where is your water coming from Gypsy? If there is no limestone on the island, the water shouldn't be hard.

Not sure think it comes from underground reservoirs I know it has a funny taste from all the minerals, so wouldn't make a habit of drinking it.

We recently had a new water heater fitted, not that anything was wrong but it was getting old. The guy who did it, Frankie Fixit (brilliant workman would recommend him for most jobs) was surprised it had lasted so long because the life is usually 4 or 5 years. You can have them cleaned and descaled but there is no guarantee, by paying slightly more we had a new one fitted and the old one which was 8 years old was about 60% calc which we were heating.

So there IS some form of calcium carbonate on the island, which originates from shells of sea creatures if my memeory serves me correctly. The build-up on our taps certainly points to it. Methinks it´s best to pop a tab into the washing machine; it certainly won´t do any harm and they´re cheap enough- cheers Gypsy!!

its possible that those living in the south could have a problem because the land between the mountains and the sea is basically just sand(stone) so apart from amounts limescale could get into the water supply on its way down from the galleries i have had my washing machine for 10 years now and there is no build-up in it or on taps etc as for drinking the water,its EXACTLY the same water in the bottles as in the tap ...all comes st8 from deep inside the volcano,the water bottling plants have a few bio filters but not much else
the trout farm up the road from me takes water direct from the streams

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I would disagree! the water in the taps tastes of chemical compared to the bottled water

to be honest the nicest water is that taken direct from the streams
and as i say in the winter is still warm,with the heat coming from deep in the volcano,but i do drink tap water at my farm,but i am 2km up near the forest line

We get ours from the bowser that comes down the hill each week