There’s something in the water – and we don’t like it any more than you do!

We often get asked about the issue of scale and hard water in some of the regions around the UK.

Without a doubt a build-up of limescale can adversely affect many of our favourite kitchen appliances. Dishwashers, washing machines and boiling water taps are perhaps the most obvious, but limescale is also a problem for steam ovens, irons, steam cleaners, sinks and taps; and even sanitary ware and shower screens. 

We have a strangely complacent view of our water quality as a nation.  When you consider that we pay not inconsiderable sums for a clean drinking water supply, it is remarkable how little we demand from the water providers in terms of quality in return for our hard earned money. 

We also wonder whether, over time, the build-up of limescale might affect the accuracy of the water meters that now determine how much water most of us use and therefore how much we must pay.  

Why are our water companies not investing in large in-pipe scale filters to eliminate the worst of the excess minerals which cause limescale before the water reaches us?  Surely, collecting limescale centrally and disposing of it on a regular basis would lead to fewer problems in the wider water network and in our homes?  We’d also consume less water if we weren’t continually cleaning off water marks; and we’d be greener too, if we could use fewer cleaning products – particularly harsh anti-limescale ones. 

At Quooker we go to some lengths to tackle the limescale problem.  For years we’ve provided de-scaling kits with a range of options.  We can send you a kit that you can use yourself or give to your own installer to complete a descale of your Quooker.  Or you can call in one of our own dedicated experts to descale your Quooker for you.  

Our new Scale control filter

Now we’ve gone a step further and done what we think the water companies ought to be doing.  We’ve developed a scale filter that you can fit to take out the excess minerals before they reach your Quooker tap, making it very low maintenance indeed.   It can be used equally well with an existing tap or a new one.  But it is odd that we’ve had to do this when the water companies should be able to treat the water more thoroughly to eliminate much of the ‘hardness’.

If you discovered that poor quality petrol had damaged your vehicle’s engine, you’d be cross with, and protest to, the petrol company – we’ve seen it happen.  Yet when valuable kitchen appliances are affected by limescale, we don’t seem to get mad with the water companies.

Maybe it’s time we did?  

Food for thought next time you pay your water bill.  

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Our dealer network – our best asset and we know it!

The danger of making a comment in the press is that no matter how careful you or the publication are, it can be taken the wrong way!   

In a recent article in KBB Review I felt the need to comment on the issue of manufacturers selling direct.  Unfortunately, the heading of the article was less than helpful, as the one thing I didn’t do, and never would, is ‘slam retailers’.  I therefore now think it’s only right to clarify the points that I did raise.

The  point I tried to make was to question what is actually meant by ‘selling direct’.  I assume that when retailers talk about selling direct, and understandably object to, is a manufacturer competing against them when they are selling a complete kitchen.  This would be totally unacceptable and is not a practice in which Quooker would ever indulge. 

Our whole business is based and planned around supporting and growing this invaluable network.  

When I spoke about selling direct, I was talking about accessing the 25 million households in which no new kitchen purchase is involved – in other words, the retrofit market.  

As pointed out in the original article we encourage our dealers to enter this retrofit market and back them with a supported free fitting programme.  

So I feel the need to make it clear that we are absolutely committed to our dealer base. 

We invest over £1m a year promoting the brand to consumers for the benefit of our dealers and would never knowingly seek to compete with them.

Hopefully this clears up any misunderstanding !


If you are a dealer and want to find out more about entering the retrofit market, please email us at info@quooker.co.uk for details of our supported free fitting programme.

Stephen Johnson

MD Quooker UK 

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25 years – time to really get the party started

You might think that having invented the original boiling water tap and being the first to provide truly 100°C boiling water on demand was enough of an achievement to last a lifetime; especially as the inventors patented so many aspects of the technology as to make it pretty well impossible to copy.  Some have tried, but most have had to settle for ‘almost’.  Close, but no cigar, as they say.

And for 25 years Quooker has been entirely focused on being a dedicated boiling water specialist, not bowing to the pressure to develop more diverse products. It was rather like the old adverts for Carlsberg – people were thinking, “Quooker don’t make three in one taps, but if they did they’d probably be the best in the world.”  So if we were going to make a tap that did even more than deliver true 100°C boiling water, it would have to be exceptional, or we didn’t want anything to do with it.  

The quarter century mark was, therefore, no time to rest on our laurels, but the complete opposite; the starting point for a whole newer era of Quooker innovation and invention.  In fact the rather brilliant Quooker boffins had been perfecting a range of new products made to their exacting standards, and our 25^th anniversary celebrations proved to be the perfect platform from which to launch them.  

We’ve never wanted to create new products for the sake of it, so innovation has to advance our core values of saving time, energy, water and money.  It also needs to serve our aim of helping homeowners to streamline their kitchens, both in terms of design and how they use them too.  We’re here to facilitate a relaxed lifestyle for busy people and to make using the kitchen easier.  Once installed, the Quooker rapidly becomes the most used appliance in the kitchen – bar none – so if you’re going to innovate, getting it absolutely right is vital.  

The birth of the new Nordic series was a very well-considered and thoroughly thought out response to customer demand for designer looks and even greater convenience. 

Quooker Twintaps - first of the Nordic series

First in the new Nordic series, the Quooker Twintaps, in Round or Square versions, is our design led set of beautiful matching taps, the first in the UK to provide an exact match for 100°C boiling water and separate mixer taps.  Up until then, designers had to find a ‘best match’; now they have a perfect pair.  But as looks aren’t everything, we also added a host of new safety features to ensure that there was no possibility of mistaking one tap for the other.  We were aware though, that this wouldn’t be enough for everyone, and the time had come to create our first three in one 100°C boiling, hot and cold combined single tap.  

Quooker Fusion - our first three in one tap

So this month, we launched the second in the Nordic series, the Quooker Fusion, one tap that really does do it all, with the same great designer looks that so defined the Twintaps.  

The safety features we developed for the Twintaps were key here too – if you are going to use one tap to do everything, you need to build in safety to ensure that turning on the 100°C delivery is a deliberate action, which it most certainly is with the entire Nordic series.  A double push and twist mechanism, a specially grooved mechanism and an LED light all ensure that you know it’s the 100°C boiling water that you’re turning on. 

Essentially it’s down to individual choice – some people want one tap that does everything, while others want a dedicated boiling water tap for that one purpose.  What we want is for everyone to be safe and everyone to be happy.  Because once you’ve got a Quooker, it really does become an integral part of your lifestyle.  

That’s why we think a foundation of 25 years of development and perfectionism is just about the right basis for a whole new phase of Quooker innovation in the kitchen.  

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