No,
water softener is useless PROVIDED your water is *extremly soft*, meaning it as under 4 grains per gallon.
[water softener uses *salt* to soften water. The harder the water, the more salt it uses]

Other than the water softener the Diamante+ have also

- a delayed start option, useful if you have a cheaper power rate by night as most EU countries

- a turbo option, saves up to 50 minutes when you're in a hurry, can be used with pots and pans, normal and china/glass

If savings are the biggest priority also consider the prefinished Inspira G2142U *without* cutlery tray (they have the good ole basket). 150 USD less than the very same machine with the tray G2142SCU. Both have visible controls

Also consider that the very same model G2182SCSF with hidden controls and full stainless steel door
costs 500 USD more than the stainless steel version (door+ visible controls) of the G2142U, just because of that heavy SS full door

If you go black or white G2142U rather than the stainless steel one, you'll save further 100 USD and you'll have *the very same machine*

Excellent help, hidroman!

The softener on Miele dishwashers is pretty much trouble-free. I suppose it could be just one more thing to go wrong....but they're pretty reliable. The only "softener" required is salt. It's inexpensive and doesn't need replenishing very often, unless you have extremely hard water. As an aside, water in Europe is many times harder that the water encountered almost everywhere in the N. America. I'm unaware that Miele users have any complaints about softener dependability over there.

I used the softener on my Miele in my previous home in California (I had extremely hard, magnesium-laden well water), where it made a dramatic difference in eliminating water spots. I now live in Seattle where the water is fairly soft. The softener that came in my new Miele wasn't needed, so I've disabled the "salt needed" sensor according to the instructions in the owners manual. I get spotless results.

Keep in mind that it would be a good idea to have one with a water softener if you plan on moving in the future and taking your dishwasher with you. You may end up moving where you will need the built-in softener. When I moved to Arizona, where our hardness is approximately 20-30 grains, I installed a whole-house water softener but left a hard water line to feed the dishwasher. Why? Because feeding a Miele hard water and letting it use its built-in softener to adjust the total hardness in the wash water is preferable to feeding it pre-softened water which you then cannot add hardness to.

When fed hard water, the Miele dishwashers will soften the hard water but also mix it with unsoftened water to ensure the wash water inside the tub is somewhere around 4 grains total hardness. It's all handled by the dishwasher. However, if you feed it softened water then it cannot add hardness back to it. The result is 0 hardness water in the dishwasher which will lead to etching if you're not extremely careful by using non-phosphated detergents and lower wash temperatures.

just add :

in case of soft water stay also away from those all-in-one tabs with incorporated water softening agent. We have ruined lots of glasses with those #####

Thank you all for the practical information! Moving soon!

Can anyone tell me what it means when I tested my well water with a pool test kit and the sample didn't turn purple after adding the drops? The water stayed the same after adding many drops.
This test was for water hardness. I have a Miele dishwasher and thought I'd double ck. my water in case I needed to adjust the salt intake level.
Thanks for your help!

If reagent isn't gone bad (too old) it would mean your water is very soft (no salt at all)

You should already have a clue about it, cause soft water rinses badly. Usually while shovering one takes ages to rinse away soap/shower foam

In case of doubt check again with a new reagent