I have had a Monarch midi water softener for over a year now. I have never had a problem with it and it doesnt use too much salt. I ordered it one day and got it delivered the next day and they helped arrange all installation of it with a local plumber. Looks good and has reduced the hardness of our water significantly. Highly recommended.

We purchased a Monarch Midi. Manufacturer's instructions state the unit should be installed as close as possible to the mains water supply. Our water supply enters in the bathroom (single storey dwelling) so that's where we installed it. The unit produced so much condensation water ran out of the cupboard onto the floor. When we went to Monarch to ask what to do, Monarch were very defensive. Monarch told us we should not have installed it in a bathroom as it was dangerous to have electric connections in a bathroom - despite the electrical connections having been made by a qualified electrician who pointed out lights, extract fan etc. all powered by electricity safely. Monarch then said we should install the water softener outside and were happy to sell us a plywood cabinet for the purpose. Monarch say condensation hardly ever happens, but they produce this cabinet for when it does. I was charged over £100 for this cabinet which consisted of 4 pieces of plywood, and had to be strengthened by my contractor. The water softener is now installed in this outside cabinet and appears to be working well. Monarch subsequently spent more effort trying to get this review withdrawn than they did trying to answer my initial questions. Monarch say that they cannot be held responsible for what they say was an incorrect installation. However, they cannot say in which way my contractor failed to follow their installation instructions. The instructions were dated December 2010, 4 months before installation, so they were not out of date. Monarch say they do not mention the possibility of condensation in the instructions because they think a common-sense approach would be enough. They say they rely on the intelligence of the installer, and that my installer was incompetent. My installer refutes this. The installation instructions do point out other "common-sense" restrictions, such as allowing access for future salt filling etc, but they do not include anything about condensation. Monarch did not come and look at the installation. Monarch then said it was not the unit producing the condensation but the pipes leading to the unit. Now the unit has been relocated those pipes are still there in the same cupboard, still with water running through them, and they do not suffer from condensation. The condensation only started when the unit was installed, and only stopped when the unit was relocated. Monarch say they give very good customer service but they have clearly not had modern customer service training such as the Mary Gober programme. I never asked for compensation or a refund. All I wanted was to sort out the issue and then to warn others who might be in the same position, but Monarch were very defensive and were more interested in protecting their position. Nevertheless if you can avoid the condensation issue the unit appears to work well.