Are Water Softeners Necessary?
Water softener systems are poorly understood by many homeowners in Beavercreek, OH. You may have heard the terms hard water and soft water, but what do they mean? How do they affect you and your home? These are good questions. Read on to find out what hard and soft water are and how they impact your everyday life.
What are Water Softener Systems?
Water softener systems take away the unnecessary mineral deposits from your water supply. In other words, they make hard water soft. Hard water is what gives your water, bathtub, or sink a yellow to brown coloring. It damages appliances and plumbing, discolors clothes, and can leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Soft water is created by removing hard minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, bicarbonates, and sulfates.
Water softener systems remove negative ionic minerals by replacing them with positive ions. A sodium or potassium solution is used to remove calcium and magnesium particles from your water supply.
The water softener then flushes the negative ions from its system and begins the process again.
What If I Don’t Use a Water Softener System?
Water softener systems make life easier, especially if you have hard water. A few of the ways water softener systems can simplify your day to day life and even save you money include:
Eliminating Stains
Hard water leaves behind a scaly residue of dissolved minerals in its wake. These white, spotty deposits cling to your toilets, bathtubs, and sinks and are notoriously difficult to remove. A water softener eliminates this problem, meaning you don’t have to spend as much time scrubbing.
Being Easier on Your Hair and Skin
The minerals in hard water can block your pores, which dries out your skin, leaving it itchy and flaky. Hard water is also problematic for hair as the film hard water leaves behind leads to dry, dull, and lifeless hair.
Upgrading your moisturizing process or extending your hair and skincare routines do little to combat the effects of hard water on your body. With a water softener system, you can trust that your showers will leave your hair and skin cleaner, as they’re supposed to.
Sparing Your Clothes
Just as it is detrimental for your hair and skin, hard water is tough on clothes, making your detergent less effective and leaving a residue behind. This residue breaks down the fabrics over time, meaning your clothing won’t last as long, and this may even cause them to develop a smell.
With a water softener system, your clothes will always come out of the wash cleaner than when they went in and last longer.
Decreasing Your Utility Bills
The minerals in hard water can lead to build-ups in your pipes, causing them to narrow. As a result, you wind up using more water, which increases your utility costs. A water softener helps to prevent this problem, saving you money monthly on your home’s expenses.
Reducing Repair Costs
Hard water is tough on any appliance or system in your home that deals with water. Over time, you may notice that many of your home’s appliances start to have issues, such as your dishwasher and washing machine, but perhaps the hardest hit is your water heater.
Hard water wreaks havoc on water heaters with mineral build-ups that cause them to break down frequently or even fail.
Do I Need a Water Softener System if I Live in the City?
More than 80% of all homes in the country have hard water. Municipalities try to make the water safe to drink, and they are successful, but they don’t manage minerals they deem not harmful. Calcium isn’t detrimental, and some cities add it to their water supply, but it can build up in pipes and cause major issues for appliances.
Water hardness is based on the grains per gallon of dissolved calcium carbonate. To determine your water hardness, you can purchase test strips and check yourself, call your municipality and ask them, or have a plumber measure it. The categories are:
- 0 to 3 — Good
- 3 to 7 — Moderately hard
- 7 to11 — Hard water
- 11 to 15 — Very hard water
- 15+ — Extremely hard water
Softening your water is not necessary, but it will make your water taste better and help your plumbing and appliances last longer.
Plumbers Near Me in Beavercreek, OH
Tired of dealing with your Beavercreek, OH, home’s hard water? At Dean’s Plumbing, we proudly offer water softener system installation services for our Beavercreek, Dayton, and Xenia, Ohio neighbors.
Our specialists will gladly take the time to help you choose the right water softener system for your home and install it. We test your water first to make sure your home receives the optimal system for its needs. Call us today to get started improving your home’s water quality.