Home Water Softeners

Home water softeners can go a long way in ensuring your household’s safety and the longevity of your water appliances.

A water softener weeds out unwanted “hardness ions” in water, which include magnesium and calcium and in some cases, ferrous iron and manganese. It can be used alongside washing machines, water heaters, and dishwashers.

To better appreciate the benefits of home water softeners, you should first look at the disadvantages of hard water. Hard water generally brings about three major disadvantages.

Hard water and cleansing agents

First of all, hard water can thwart soap’s ability to form a lather since the metal ions in the water reacts negatively with the soap or detergent, especially the type that are sensitive to calcium.

Hindering a lather is the physical effect, but the functional effect is that the detergent will not be able to clean anymore.

In fact, hard water can leave dirt when used instead of help in cleaning; “dirt” as in precipitates that homemakers who have bathtubs will most likely be familiar with in the form of bathtub rings.

Hard water and clogging

Aside from that, the calcium and magnesium content in hard water can leave behind hard deposits on your appliances’ pipes and other components. The deposits can build up on the pipes and can cause clogging.

In heat exchangers, the clogging prevents water from getting heated, even as heat is produced, which may eventually cause the boiler itself to overheat in its inability to release heat through the water. In such a case, the boiler will eventually fail.

Hard water and galvanic corrosion

There is yet another disadvantage that can be expected from hard water. Metal ions in hard water can cause galvanic corrosion.

Galvanic corrosion is when one metal corrodes when it comes into contact with another metal, with both metals also contacting electrolytes, which hard water is. Galvanic corrosion is what causes the common problem of rusting, which can attack even durable steel.

What a water softener can do

Based on these disadvantages, it is clear that a water softener can save you from a lot of trouble. It can result in water that cleans better without leaving any precipitates behind and without clogging up your water system.

And since water pipes and your other appliances do not have to combat hard water, their work also becomes easier. This means they get less strain and can do more work in less time. And when you wash your clothes using softened water, you will also feel the difference on your clothes.

How a water softener works

A water softener works using an ion exchange process. Some traditional home water softeners only release sodium or potassium ions into the water, but these ions are more active than the metal ions found in hard water, thus causing galvanic corrosion all the same.

Newer home water softeners use a special resin tank that stores the sodium ions as they attract the calcium and magnesium. The sodium ions used are usually in the form of small beads covered with sodium ions.

As the metal ions in the hard water goes into the resin tank, the sodium ions are then released, so they do not interact with the metal ions but instead trade places with them.

However, sodium ions that cover the small beads eventually runs out, which is why water softeners also come with a regeneration process that allows it to regenerate the sodium ions.

The beads that are used are called zeolites. In the regeneration process, zeolites are soaked in a solution with sodium ions such as regular table salt.

Installing a water softener

In most cases, water softeners are installed by the professionals you buy them from. However, as a consumer, you can easily install a water softener by yourself in case you need to.

All water softeners come with clear and detailed instructions for installation. All you have to do is follow the instructions carefully. You can also read up on tips about proper installation to ensure that it works properly.

Although not a necessity, acquiring a water softener at home will be a good move.

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