Harvey Water Softener Repair
Diagnosis, repair and replacement for Harvey twin-cylinder block salt softeners across Orpington, Bromley and North West Kent — with an honest answer on whether yours is worth fixing.
Harvey Softeners
- £110 repair or diagnostic visit
- Valve block faults on older units
- Bypass, drain & overflow checked
- Replacements from £950 fitted
- Fixed price for parts before work
Under Guarantee? Call Harvey First
Harvey softeners come with a three-year parts and labour guarantee, and Harvey offers an extended plan that can cover a unit until the end of its tenth year. The guarantee asks that you use Harvey's own block salt from Harvey or an approved supplier.
If your softener is still covered, call Harvey first — the repair should cost you nothing. If it's out of guarantee, or the plan has lapsed, that's where I come in.
How a Harvey Works — and Where It Goes Wrong
A Harvey has two resin cylinders. One softens while the other regenerates, which is why you get soft water continuously. A meter inside decides when to regenerate, using brine made from the block salt.
Harvey says topping up the salt is the only routine maintenance the unit needs. In my experience that's true right up until the valve block starts to fail — and on Harvey and TwinTec units that tends to happen somewhere around the ten-year mark.
Salt not going down
If the blocks haven't dropped in weeks, the unit isn't regenerating. The cause is usually in the valve block or the brine draw, not the salt.
Hard water returning while salt is being used
Exhausted or fouled resin, or brine not being drawn properly. A hardness test before and after the softener tells me which side the fault is on.
Water running to drain constantly
The valve has stuck mid-cycle. Worth sorting quickly — it can waste a lot of water.
Leaks at the valve head
Seals age. On a younger unit that's a repair; on a ten-year-old unit with other symptoms, it's usually time to talk about replacement.
Bypass, Drain, Overflow and Drinking Water
The bypass is your friend if the softener leaks: put it into bypass to keep water running to the house while the softener is isolated, then back to soft water once it's fixed.
When I replace a softener, the drain and overflow run separately, there's a proper air gap at the drain connection, and the discharge goes to foul drainage only. Those are Water Regulations points, and I find them done wrong surprisingly often.
It's usual to keep one unsoftened tap in the kitchen for drinking and cooking. If your house doesn't have one and you'd like it, I can add it at the same visit.
My Rule of Thumb
Younger unit, single fault
A seal, a blocked injector, a salt bridge: repair it.
Ten years or more, failed valve block
Replacement is normally the better money — the rest of the unit is the same age.
Resin exhausted on an older unit
Usually a sign the whole unit is near the end. I'll price both options so you can compare.
Harvey Softener Questions
Harvey Softener Playing Up?
£110 repair visit, a fixed price for any parts, and replacements from £950 fitted, across Orpington, Bromley and North West Kent.
07717 846247
Water Treatment
Softeners, drinking water and the cylinder your hard water affects.