Abstract: A water-processing domestic appliance with means (410; 620) for processing water and, upstream of said means, a cathode (35) and an anode (45) for the de-ionization of water in a de-ionization space (50) before said water is processed. A cathode screen (31) screens off a cathode region (30) from the de-ionization space (50), said cathode (35) being situated in the cathode region (30), while at least a portion of the cathode screen (31) is formed by a kation membrane (32). A much reduced maintenance necessity is achieved in that ions can be removed from the water to be processed without necessarily depositing on the cathode, and can be removed from the cathode region together with liquid.

Abstract: A steam iron with an indicator for indicating calcification is provided in which the iron is provided with a timer for measuring an accumulated time of use of the steam iron, and an actuator for activating the indicator when the accumulated time exceeds a predetermined threshold level. The timer measures the time of use of the steam iron, the accumulated time of use being indicative of the amount of scale deposited in the steam chamber and steam vents. When the accumulated time of use exceeds a threshold the calcification indicator is activated to warn the user that a self-clean action is to be performed. The time of use measurement may be obtained by accumulating the time of use only during steam generation, or it may be obtained by correcting the accumulated time of use with a weighting factor which depends on the steaming rate.