Water Softeners - Save Hundreds of Dollars With an Easy to Install Device

Reducing the calcium or magnesium ion concentration in hard water is not rocket science and can be easily achieved by installing a water softener. This gets rid of lots of the problems associated with hard water and at the same time reduces energy costs of heating water with pipes full of limescale. So in short, a water softener device can be a great idea to add to your home.

There are some major issues that hard water causes. Firstly, the calcium and magnesium react with soaps and sensitive detergents, hindering their ability to lather and forming the ugly precipitate that will all know as limescale buildup. Presence of these minerals also inhibits the cleaning effect of detergent formulations.

INSTALLING A WATER SOFTENER

Not only this, calcium and magnesium carbonates tend to stick to the surfaces of pipes and heat exchanger surfaces. The scale build-up resulting from this can restrict water flow in pipes. In boilers, the build-up acts as thermal insulation that impedes the flow of heat into the water. This not only reduces heating efficiency, but allows the metal to overheat which, in a pressurized system, can lead to failure.

The presence certain minerals in water can also lead to galvanic corrosion, in which one metal will preferentially corrode when in contact with another type of metal. The use of water softeners can actually aggravate this and cause the heating elements in hot water heaters to corrode more quickly.

Early water-softening devices intended for household use depended on an ion-exchange resin in which "hardness" ions trade places with the sodium that is found in the water softening device. Water softeners are typically used when water is supplied from wells, and I receive correspondence from people all the time asking for help with hard water stains that their water has caused. Public water systems are also susceptible to hard water, although this is much less common.

There are various other ways of treating hard water including water filters, electromagnetic water conditioners and reverse osmosis. In the next article in this series we will look at the pros and cons of several of the available methods to treat water containing high levels of calcium and magnesium which are the cause of hard water stains forming on fixtures and fittings around the home.

Water Softeners - Save Hundreds of Dollars With an Easy to Install Device

INSTALLING A WATER SOFTENER