Compact format water softener

[buzzdriving]

I rent an apartment in Santiago, Chile where the water is very hard. For the last few years, I've been using the building's laundry on the ground floor but this costs a fortune over the long run and is frankly a ballache when you're on the 12th floor. A colossal waste of time. Not to mention the never ending hunt for coins.

With this in mind, I've decided to fork out for my own washing machine and dryer and install them in the apartment. There is a dedicated closet space with cold and hot inlets as shown in the attached image. The hot water is supplied centrally through the building's HVAC.

If possible, I would like to install a water softener. The primary purpose for this would be to protect the washing machine NOT clothes; in other words, I can do without a full-blown solution if it means only protecting the machine although minimising damage to clothes would certainly be welcome. I don't care about hard water in the rest of the apartment.

In terms of space, the only option would be to keep the dryer somewhere else in the apartment to provide space above the washing machine to put a softener in. If it's not possible to put the softener above the washing machine, then that's game over for that idea.

If it's ok to install a softener over the washing machine, then the next issue is that I have no clue what size softener I would need for this application. Most of the options I've seen have these tall tanks that are around 100cm tall. One company's catalogue starts at 44in (112cm) which isn't going to fit into the roughly 90cm of clearance I would have above the washing machine. Do smaller form factors exist for water softeners or am I just barking up the wrong tree here? How much supporting infrastructure would I need to put in above the washing machine? I need to take "permanent changes" into account with regards to the rental agreement.

If I'm being fanciful with regards to a water softener solution, are there any other options I can consider for protecting the washing machine?

Thanks in advance for any recommendations or pointers.

 

[Gasmk1]

This type Buying a water softener? - https://www.horecatraders.com/en/water-softener-disposable-system-1600-liters.html. Must be something similar in Chile but I would just use on cold fill no need for hot fill on machine as heater element works ok most washes these days are 30/40 degree

 

[Chuck]

In the UK you can get washing powders that include a water softener and also softening powders to add to the wash.

I live in a soft water area so I don't know how well they work but you might want to do some Googling to see if they might be a solution to your problem.

 

[buzzdriving]

This type Buying a water softener? - https://www.horecatraders.com/en/water-softener-disposable-system-1600-liters.html. Must be something similar in Chile but I would just use on cold fill no need for hot fill on machine as heater element works ok most washes these days are 30/40 degree

Thanks, Gasmk1.

I hadn't considered the heater element option. It will probably be difficult to find a water softener for hot water anyway! Will take your inline idea on board.

 

[buzzdriving]

In the UK you can get washing powders that include a water softener and also softening powders to add to the wash.

I live in a soft water area so I don't know how well they work but you might want to do some Googling to see if they might be a solution to your problem.

Thanks for the reply, Chuck.

They have softening detergents here too but we are in the middle of the Andes so the mineral content is so high that they don't help much. Also, that would certainly help with buildup in the drum but I don't know if washing machines ever backwash these descaling solutions all the way back up to the inlet so I assume there'd still be buildup there.