Having hard water is a fact for many households in the United States – you must have heard of it, but do you know exactly what it is? Hard water can be for several reasons. First, the water supply agency in your area doesn't treat the water to remove the chemical compounds that make it difficult. The second reason is when there is calcium and magnesium in your plumbing system.
Such water is in most cases not harmful to health, but it has a negative impact on the health of your plumbing system and shortens the life of all household appliances that heat water.
Hard water problems
• The construction of scales on plumbing equipment and fixtures: you will very likely have hard water if you notice this. Mineral buildup occurs on your shower head and faucets, as well as on appliances such as a dishwasher and coffee pot. Besides being unsightly, this build-up can add a bad taste to your water.
• Dry hair and skin: when you shower, your hair will feel slimy and your skin will feel dry as soon as you leave the washroom because the water contains too much magnesium and calcium. The water is unable to take care of your skin or hair in the slightest. So if you dry both of your hair, your hair may feel brittle and your skin may feel cracked when you dry both your hair because the water cannot nourish your hair or skin at all.
• Faded clothes: In addition to removing the paint from your clothes much faster, hard water will also affect your washing machine. Your bedding and clothing can even feel scratchy due to the excess minerals.
• Stained Bathtubs and Sinks: You can be sure that your bathtubs and sinks will be stained from the mineral residue of hard water that stains both your sinks and your bathtubs.
• Frequent plumbing repairs: steel pipes are not good at handling such water. The accumulation of minerals will eventually damage them and the water flow will also be impaired. This can also lead to corrosion and other pipe problems, forcing you to have the pipes repaired frequently.
• Unsightly dishes: Have you ever seen white stains on your glasses and dishes when you took them out of the dishwasher? You know who the culprit is.
Integrating a water system into your plumbing system is the only solution.
Different types of soft water systems:
• Salt-free water softeners: Salt-free systems do not remove hard minerals from the water. They neutralize the hard minerals to keep them from bonding together and form the build-up that leads to hard water. Such systems are more expensive, but work cheaper in the long run. They also do not require weekly maintenance like the ion exchange system does. Although this system is compact, some of them have a multi-stage filtration process that removes contaminants such as chemicals and bacteria from the water, as shown in this system here.
• Water Exchange Water Softening Systems: Also known as salt-based filtration systems, they are the traditional types of water softening systems that most people use. They are characterized by high flow rates and are designed to provide the whole house with soft water. The resin in these systems attracts magnesium and calcium from the water and replaces them with sodium ions in a process known as ion exchange. You can regenerate the resin with help if the resin runs out of positively charged sodium ions. You need to do the regeneration process once a week.
• Magnetic water softeners: They are the latest in hard water treatment systems. Instead of removing the hard minerals, these devices neutralize the hard minerals and prevent them from bonding together, keeping them completely soluble. Such systems are easy to install and much cheaper. There's no need to turn off the water supply or cut pipes during installation. All you have to do is wrap them around your existing pipes and the water will be conditioned by the magnetic field. Keep in mind that you may need to plug the device into your home's electrical outlet. The only downside is that the water usually turns hard again after two days.
• Reverse Osmosis Water Softeners: These systems remove hard water that causes minerals like magnesium and calcium. Some of these systems have extra steps to bring healthy minerals back into the water and make the taste pleasant. These units typically have a faucet through which the treated water flows. Such types of water softeners use high pressure to force the water through an RO membrane filter.
Points to think about before buying a water softener
• Check the device service flow rate in gallons per minute. Most water softeners can produce 15-20 gallons of softened water. However, this is not the real rate. To determine the actual amount of water being treated, you need to consider the number of devices in your home and the hardness of the water.
• Check the resin crosslink percentage. While 8 is good, go for 10 if you can afford it.
• Check the efficiency of the best water softener and choose the system that removes 3,333 to 5,000 grains (the amount of scale the machine can remove in one cycle before needing regeneration) per pound.
