Editorial policy
Independence
No installer, manufacturer or retailer pays for coverage, placement or a recommendation on this site, and none ever will. We earn Amazon affiliate commission on product purchases, which is disclosed on every page that carries a product link. Nobody has approval rights over what we publish.
How we decide what to recommend
Product recommendations follow from water hardness, property type and the problem the reader actually has — in that order. The recommendation engine is driven by data, and each category declares which hardness bands it genuinely suits. We keep those lists tight on purpose: a category claiming to suit every band turns the tool into a shop window.
Where the right answer is "buy nothing", the site says so.
Evidence and sourcing
- Water hardness figures come from water companies' own published data, and we link to their checker rather than reproducing their data.
- Regulatory statements are drawn from the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 and equivalent frameworks in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Where evidence for a product claim is weak — as it is for some magnetic and electronic scale conditioners — we say the evidence is weak rather than repeating the marketing.
- Where a figure is our estimate rather than a verified source, it is labelled as indicative and given as a range.
- Every data source we use is listed, with its licence and the date we last checked it.
Accuracy and updates
Every guide carries a last-updated date. We review content on a 60-day cycle, and the build flags anything older. Substantive corrections are made in place and noted.
Who writes and approves this
Sebastian researches, writes and approves the technical material, drawing on ten years in the water filter and water softener industry. Author and reviewer are the same person and the byline states that plainly — we do not describe a single pass as independent review.
We claim experience, not qualifications. No accreditation, registration or professional body membership is asserted anywhere on this site, because none is recorded. If that changes, it will appear on the byline and be checkable. Presenting an unverified claim as a credential is precisely what we refuse to do for installers, and the rule cuts both ways.
Where a claim rests on external authority, we cite it: hardness bands follow the Drinking Water Inspectorate's classification, and every water company page quotes that supplier's own description of their own water, with a source link and the date checked.
The limits of what is here
This is general guidance, not advice on your specific property. Plumbing, water quality and regulatory requirements vary, and nothing here replaces a qualified professional looking at your actual installation.