We have had the MC350 for around six years. I noticed high water in the unit and excessive salt usage. I called an engineer and they came out and said new washers and seals were needed. We went ahead and at a cost of over £100 assumed that was it. We have now had the same problems again and had to have the same thing done again. I noticed this weeks the problem has re-occurred around a year or 18 months down the line. I'm now wondering whether it's better to bypass the softener and give up. I would purchase a new unit but it seems the problem will continue even with the new units.

I've had the machine for 5 years, it always worked well but a few weeks ago it started to fill up, similar problem to what others described here. I contacted BWT (they are the only ones allowed to service this machine) and scheduled a visit from a technician on the following week. I also contacted the marketing manager who has been active on these site, to share my concern that, given the numerous negative feedbacks, it wasn't worth repairing this unit. The advisor was very helpful with the process and the repair was completed on time for a total of £145, including servicing, not cheap but at least it was done. The technician told me that at this point the machine should be OK for several years: on this basis I have no major complains (minor complain: cost of the repair) and in fact I found the advisor exceptionally helpful. Hopefully you won't hear from me again!

I've had an MC350 for about 7 years now and it has just sat there and done its thing. First fault last month when the O ring between the valve head and the resin cylinder started leaking. Got a set of two O rings form Wrekin Water Softeners, followed their instructions and replaced it no problems. Other than that it's been a good bit of kit and I'd certainly have another one. The secret with this, as with all appliances is not to be afraid of it - its just plumbing after all and easily understood. If yyou understand how it works then you can fix it when it doesn't!

The general builders who were completely renovating a house for us got this unit fitted in response to our requests for a water softener. Literally 2 weeks after the year's warranty ran out the unit started recycling constantly, it absolutely *age* salt (an entire 25kg bag in one week!) and the salt hopper kept flooding. The manufacturers came out to fix it (a bill of £180!) and fixed it...'up-selling' another year's warranty. The second warranty ran out a week ago...and guess what, the machine has started recycling constantly and yet again the salt hopper is filling with water. So it seems to me that this company is cynically manufacturing this junk with parts that fail a little over the 12-month mark in order to keep you tied in to an expensive annual warranty. I now face getting this joke of a machine ripped out and replaced with something decent. Oh, and I notice that their Marketing Manager is replying to these reviews with a pathetic attempt at spin....my advice mate is don't bother because as a Marketing Manager you're as much use as a fish on a bicycle and people aren't interested in your media statements, they're interested in getting the company to acknowledge and fix a truly shoddy product!

THIS IS AN UNRELIABLE MACHINE WHICH BREAKS OFTEN. Furthermore the manufacturer's guarantee is not worth the paper it is written. I have such a machine installed in my house and broken in less than 2 years, upon calling their service, they are asking for a call out charge and cost of repairs. It has also been using salt in excess in comparison with a previous system I had. Most faults are due to its electrical timer and motor. My older system had a mechanical timer and is still working at my previous house after 20 years. I WILL NOT BUY ONE IF I WERE YOU. I WISHED I HAD ACCESS TO THIS REVIEW BEFORE I BOUGHT MINE.

These countless reviews based upon the Waterside MC350 / MC250 are very interesting and only seem to confirm my own findings based upon my 12 years experience with these machines. I must however be up-front and say that I have been in the water softener industry for many years and have sold and installed many hundreds of different manufacturers machines over the years from North Somerset, through Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Being an independent business gives you the advantage of spec'ing the right machine for the right job or so you hope and not being tied to any specific manufacturers product that you HAVE to sell can therefore allow you the free reign to choose the machine that is best suited for the purpose, with the criteria varying from the size of the space available for installation, the capacity, the flow rate (peak water demand), and the price etc. Over the years I have come across countless (and this is no exaggeration) numbers of consumers who have purchased a Waterside MC250 or currently the Waterside MC350 fully automatic water softener in good faith, (typically recommended by their local plumber) and have ultimately had very disappointing results. We regularly get enquiries asking if we repair them. Although of course we can undertake servicing to most of the Waterside machines, I tend to advise against costly repairs because ultimately the problems with these machines never seem go away and on going repairs always appear necessary. The bottom line to anyone reading this is that the Waterside MC250 / MC350 units are unquestionably unreliable and problematic water softeners and I say this with 'no slant' as the profit margin for us is actually better than many of the other makes we sell! But unfortunately I have witnessed flooded kitchens, overflowing water softeners, excessive manufacturers repair bills and tried too often in vain to repair enough of these machines that simply never seem to work consistently and never deliver consistently softened water as a good quality machine should do. All in all, their are plenty of other machines out there to choose from, depending on your requirements and circumstances. If you need any further independent advice (or have had a Waterside machine that is causing you problems) our contact details can be found on our website - www.watersoftenerinstallers.co.uk

Bought one new in may 2008 . After 15 months constantly overflowing . Spent £180 to fix with one year warrenty , after fault on a seal causing water to ingress into electronic circuit board . 16 months later same fault with water on printed circuit board , seal gone again . Not worth spending any more , and have purchased another make with 7 year warrenty

Same as the alot the other comments, had this water sofener for about 4 years but now overflowing all the time- will have to replace. Though reasonably priced at the time- it was a false economy as having to replace.

This unit is the worst water softener I have come across, avoid at all cost. I had another softener for 15 years and never failed, I have had 3 MC350's every one has failed and the suppliers says it needs servicing every year for £180 a go?? Buy another make because this is [email protected]

Bought a Waterside MC350 just over 2 years ago while extending the house.
Despite spending £12,000 with our plumber he insisted that we buy this direct as he did not want anything to do with it. So we did.
Everything seemed OK until after 13 months it would keep recyling.
Then leaks started from the top, followed by constant overflow (there are 2 overflows piped in) Then the electronic timer display packed up followed by some very bizarre noises and finally a significant flood in the kitchen.
Emails were ignored so have just chucked this £600 pile of junk in the bin.

I will never touch anything from this company again. I wish I had taken the time to read these review before buying this rubbish.

manufactures offer nil support just want to charge call out constantly overflowed found solution myself technical support very unhelpful would never buy another product from them
solution i found for overflowing was to take pump apart and turn o rings over
two in particular one shaped as a figure of 8 and the one on the end of plunger {white plastic bit with spring }

As a previous owner of a MC250 for many years, I upgraded to this softener when the MC250 packed up.
This review is for the MC350 softener, not Culligan as a company (they're awful though Waterside (now Culligan) engineer excellent).

At first it would not regenerate on time and seemed to be missing by about four days for the hardness in our area, so we got hard water for that period. After five engineer visits and lots of spares/upgrades etc. It now works perfectly. This was all done under warranty or as an existing fault.

What's great about it is something called Proportional Brining. This means it only uses enough salt to clean the amount of resin used in the filter. You can therefore turn it right up to say, 800ppm and it will use no more salt than if you had it set correctly (but will use slightly more water).
For a family of four, we use about five bags of salt per year.

Be wary of softener companies over-selling. Most of the time you won't need all the features offered on very expensive softeners. The key is in the quality of the valve and the resin, and not much more.

The very kind Culligan engineer has recommended a Monarch softener (around £500), which has a 5 year parts and labour guarantee. They're also not owned by Culligan.

I inherited a Waterside 350 water softener with a house move. It has been nothing but trouble and because the manufacturer only allows Culligans to service and repair the item it costs a fortune for repairs. I have spent several hundred pounds over the last few years getting parts replaced. Eventually it again broke down this month with water constantly running down the overflow and it was estimated to cost £400 for repairs. I made Culligans take the damn thing out and I am looking for a more reliable brand. I cannot recommend this product, steer clear !

had the mc 350 installed 2 years ago,has been nothing but trouble since day one.overflowing the main problem.culligan mending in 1st year under warranty.I cannot find an independant company to now srvice it as they cannot get parts from culligan and most of these companies say it is a "rogue machine".going to cut my losses and buy a different make.Definitely not recommended.I wish i had seen this site 2 years ago.