Water Softeners

Wondering if your household might use a helping hand of a Water softener system installation?

What is a water softener?

A water softener is a device used to soften hard water by removing certain
mineral in the water such as calcium, magnesium and certain other metal
cations in hard water.

When water contains too much of these minerals, it is called hard water,
and hard water is known to clog pipes, complicate soap and detergents that
dissolve in water and cause damages to many more households appliances
using water to function.

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF HARD WATER IN GENERAL?

As said before, hard water contains minerals, one of these minerals being calcium.
Calcium can reach out and form a substance called lime.
When limescale builds up in pipes, it causes a lot of damage including:

1. Decrease water availability: This is the most noticeable effect of hard
   water, the availability of water decreases. The constant build up of limescale inside the pipes allows less water to pass through, because of this faucets will deliver weak stress of water and showerheads will dribble
   instead spraying. These effects are constantly experienced in homes and companies.
2. Pipes blockages: Hard water can completely block the pipes, this is when the line scale builds up until it forms a solid plug which will completely prevent the passing of water. Pipes blockages mostly occur in pipes leading from hot water because limescale forms more rapidly in hot water.
3. Dissolved minerals in hard water will eat through pipes and create small holes that cause leaks and water damage.
4. Hard water will cause yellowish stains on toilets, bathrooms fixtures and clothes, making them hard.

Most of the time homeowners are not aware of the effects of hard water,
they’ll become aware of the effects when damaged plumbing piped become weak
and start having holes, causing constant leaking of water.

The only way to minimise the effects of hard water on pipes is by
installing water softeners.

WHAT’S THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER SOFTENERS?

Do you really need a water softener in your house? Definitely yes!
A water softener will reduce the hardness of water by removing the minerals
the hard water contains, extending the useful life of water heaters,
washing machines, dishwashers, coffeemakers, humidifiers and household
plumbing systems by as much as 40%.

Water softeners will definitely make a huge difference you can see and feel
all over your home in areas like:

• The bathroom: Your soap and shampoo will lather better. Your skin and
  water will feel softer and there will be no soap scrub to clean off sinks,
  tubs, toilets, and showers.
• The Kitchen: With soft water, you’ll be able to clean up your dishes easily, leaving them spotless, and your hands will look softer and much better.
• Your Laundry: With soft water, your clothes will look cleaner, whiter, brighter and will last longer. Without hard water service issues, your washing machines will also last longer.
• Your entire household: All your appliances that use water will last longer and also run better.

HOW DOES A WATER SOFTENER WORK?

Thousands of tiny resin beads within the tank of the water softener and the
salt added are what filter out hard water chemicals.

Here are the steps of how water softeners work:

1. Firstly, hard water will enter your home from the main water pipes and
   then travel to the water softener tank which will be connected to your
   pipes.
   Strong salt (brine) is added to the water softener and then flows through
   the resin beads.
2. Resin beads in the tank will then attract and hold onto the hard water minerals. Resin beads are then exchanging new sodium for the hard water minerals. The brine solution and hard water minerals will be flushed from the tank into a drain and then after some minutes the resin beads will be rinsed free of the minerals and recharged to continue attracting and collecting hard water minerals.
3. Finally, you’ll have softener water that will flow from the softener to the plumbing throughout your household.

TYPES OF WATER SOFTENERS

There are so many different types of water softeners conspire produce.
Before you begin to differentiate these tons of water softeners, it’s
important to know what kind of system you need.
To help you out, here are the major types of water softeners you can
consider:

1. Whole house water softeners: These are large and will manage your
   entire house’s water supply. These days are very expensive and can at times
   be difficult to manage.
2. Point of using water softeners: These water softeners will treat water only where it’s used. E.g A water softener for a shower is attached to the

shower, you can buy a water softer specifically for the sink, tub, toilet
e.t.c

Most of the water softeners work via the same method which is the ion exchange. These systems strip out hard water minerals and replace them with
sodium or potassium.

But most people love the salt free water softener because they are small,
easy to install, manageable and affordable. Salt-free systems use a variety
of different methods to treat hard water, some which are somehow
questionable.

A majority of people believe that the safest type of water softener to buy
is the whole house ion exchange system, because the technology is proven,
and there’s not a huge difference in softening ability between the
different brands. Instead, the main issues are cost and durability.