Everything You Need to Know About Water Softening
Almost nothing is more crucially important to human beings than water. Water is required for every process our body uses, and it makes up a full two third of our being. Yet many of us go about in a chronic state of dehydration, which has been referred to as America’s “hidden epidemic.” An estimated 70% of us are dehydrated at any one time. There are a lot of reasons we don’t drink enough water, but one that can’t be ignored is the need for whole home water filtration.
Don’t We Already Have Water Treatment
Don’t our individual communities already provide water treatment? Yes, most do. Yet for many us of we’re aware that our water still doesn’t taste good. It still doesn’t do a good job of caring for our clothes, cleaning our dishes, or washing our hair. We need whole house filtration so our water is of more use.
Why Does Our Water Need Treatment?
For most of us, the issue is hard water vs soft water. Our drinking water is full of chlorine and minerals, making it taste awful and clean even worse.
Understanding Hard Water
Hard water simply has too many minerals. These can come from the pipes or from rocks that the water flows in and around. These solids dissolve in the water and then get into and on everything. Hard water can cause:
- Buildup in water pipes
- Scaly water buildup on your dishes
- Decreased effectiveness of washing machines and dishwashers
- Soap scum in the bathroom and kitchen
- Difficulty cleaning soap off of the body and out of hair
- Poor efficiency with hot water heaters
- Problems with refrigerator ice makers
How Does a Water Softener Work?
A water softener works via ion exchange. The most common components of hard water—calcium, iron, sodium, and magnesium—all have ions with a positive charge. Water softeners use negatively charged ions to grab the positive ones like a magnet, knocking them out of the water and trapping them in a special tank.
Do I Need Water Treatment?
If can be unhealthy to drink too much hard water, and it can be especially hard on your hair, clothes, and appliances if your water is hard. Perhaps worst of all, hard water can significantly harm your appliance and energy efficiency. As one example, if you have a gas water heater, just five grains of hardness per gallon causes an 8% efficiency drop. This means money lost, as well as clothes and dishes and appliances ruined.
Drinking More
While better cleaning power and more efficient appliances are important, nothing is more important than simply getting enough to drink. Drinking is crucial to weight loss, to general health, to headache relief, and even to decision making. Staying hydrated even affects cancer risk in the colon and bladder, by significant amounts. If your water is hard, it won’t taste good and you won’t want to drink it.
One of the best things you can do for yourself, your family, and your home is to get a water treatment system for the whole house. Look into how to water filtration can help you and your family today.
