Hard Water Problems and Solutions

Is Hard Water Dangerous?

water softener

Hard water is useful if used to water your garden or plants and even to water your grass. However, it is not efficient to use for bathing, laundry, washing china, or even flatware. Soft water has less than 1 grain per gallon and is preferred.

WATER SOFTENER

Hard water can leave stains in your shower, your dishes, and your clothes. It can actually ruin many of your everyday items that you use. Unfortunately, once these stains appear, they are next to impossible to remove, especially from clothing. Stains on dishes and fine china are almost never able to be removed. Of course, the dishes can still be used, but they will have stains. Clothes on the other hand, may be completely ruined.

You can have your water tested if you believe you have hard water and then you can take measures to treat it so that it is usable in your home for daily activities. It should be noted, however, that hard water creates no health problems when consuming the water, the problem is with the staining and build up in the home's underground pipes.

What are Some Solutions to Treat Hard Water?

Many people choose to soften the water, what this treatment does is remove the calcium and magnesium all together and they are replaced with sodium. When the water is softened, it no longer leaves the stains on dishes and clothing from daily tap water usage. The main objection to using a water softener is the additional sodium it adds to the water. Most people consume too much sodium in their diets to begin with and don't need the extra sodium that a water softener adds. This is especially true when drinking the recommended 8-10 glasses of water a day.

Another method is conditioning the water, with this method, you keep both the calcium and magnesium remain but they are suspended in the water so that they do not come out of your faucets and stain clothing or dishes.

In addition, both softening and conditioning will make it less likely for your pipes to develop lime scale, which is a crystalline formation that can eventually damage the pipes. This damage means you will need to have your pipes replaced, which is a very expensive ordeal.

Final Thoughts

Hard water is treatable and in fact, most people that live in areas where they have well water, have hard water and they treat it so that there are no deposits or stains left behind. Treating the water also saves your pipes because eventually hard water will wreak havoc on them and cause them to need replacing. If you want to know if you have a water problem, have it tested and see what you best options are to treat it in your area.

Hard Water Problems and Solutions

WATER SOFTENER