If you could use any word to describe the water in your home, you probably wouldn’t use the word “hard.” We get it, it’s a strange concept for homeowners to wrap their heads around. How can water be hard? Why is hard water even a problem? These are great questions to ask and today we’re going to get to the bottom of all of them.
If you’ve been experiencing some minor discomfort with your water, both personally and through the use of your appliances, then you could be dealing with hard water. Our team specializes in water treatment in Lloydminster, SK to the point where we have several types of water softeners that could help your home alleviate this problem.
The first step is figuring out whether or not your home is being plagued by hard water. Then, we can get down to business fixing the problem!
What Is Hard Water?
Hard water isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s water that has naturally dissolved minerals in it like magnesium and calcium. This is usually from the water source you utilize being in contact with stones, rocks, or other materials that are native to the area we live in. It’s a perfectly natural process and it’s one that shouldn’t make any homeowners afraid of their own personal health.
The human body is actually quite good at digesting them so they’re not bad for consumption, but hard water is a problem in a different way.
Why Is Hard Water a Problem?
Your plumbing and your water using appliances aren’t very good at handling the minerals. They can be deposited and start clogging up your pipes or causing nasty looking stains on your appliances. They can even make it harder for your laundry machine to wash clothes since soap doesn’t dissolve in hard water as easily as it does in soft water.
Also, hard water can be abrasive for your skin and hair. Different types of shampoos have a rough reaction with hard water, and you might have a difficult time washing yourself, your kitchen appliances, and anything else that needs a good scrub. Not to mention soap stains can really ruin your washed dishes when you’ve got an abundance of hard water.
How a Water Softener Works
Minerals are attracted to specific ions when they’re dissolved in water. Think about how magnesium and iron can be magnetically attracted to things in every day life, the same concept can be used when it comes to removing them from your water!
A water softener uses a brine with beads that will attract the magnesium, calcium, iron, and any other minerals in your water. This allows your incoming water to be flushed out and used in your appliances without the minerals that have been causing problems. Then, this brine collects the ions in a separate tank so that it can be flushed out eventually and replaced with more salt. Basically, this is a closed loop that takes the hard minerals from your water and moves them to a separate location to be removed entirely from your home. Simple, right?
Call Guardian Plumbing & Heating Ltd. for the installation of a water softener in your home. Lloydminster’s Plumbing and Heating Authority!