Doing Away With Hard Water

We call water “hard” if it contains a lot of calcium, magnesium or other minerals. Groundwater acquires these metals by dissolving them from surrounding soil and rock. This is where water softeners come in. They allow us to tackle the hard water problem head on.

Hard water causes two problems:

• Dissolved calcium and magnesium precipitate out of hard water as scale, which builds up on the insides of pipes, water heaters, tea kettles, coffee makers and industrial machinery. Scale reduces flow through pipes and is a poor conductor of heat. Eventually, pipes can become completely clogged.
• Hard water reduces soap’s ability to lather, whether in the shower, sink, dishwasher or washing machine, and reacts with soap to form a sticky scum.

You can combat hard water in various ways, including filtering it by distillation or reverse osmosis, adding a packaged chemical softener such as powdered borax or washing soda (sodium carbonate), or running it through a water softener.

Softening water involves a process called “ion exchange” to remove dissolved minerals – like iron, magnesium, calcium and manganese – that can’t be trapped in a filter bed. Water softeners have resin beads with sodium attached to the resin. As water enters the tank, dissolved magnesium and calcium ions are attracted to the resin. The minerals attach to the resin, pulling them from the water and releasing sodium into the water.

Blackburn Plumbing’s Water Softeners provide top of the line protection against the numerous problems that hard water poses to a household. Both durable and efficient our water softeners are the best solution to poor water quality that has a lasting affect on our hardware.

Benefits Of Having A Water Softener

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• Cleaner dishes: Dishes, glassware and silverware washed in soft water come out spot free and sparkling.
• Softer hair and skin: Hair feels silkier and soaps and shampoo lather more easily.
• Whiter whites and brighter colors: Clothes washed in soft water are free of hard water minerals that result in dingy buildup over time. Fabrics come out softer and stay brighter.
• Longer lasting appliances: Water softeners can help preserve the life of appliances by reducing hard water buildup in coffee makers, washing machines, water heaters, and more.Less housework: Water softeners remove the minerals responsible for lime scale buildup and soap scum on shower walls, bathroom fixtures and kitchen sinks.
• Energy savings: Appliances are able to operate more efficiently when free of hard water deposits and buildup, resulting in lower energy costs.

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What Are Water Softeners?

A water softener is a unit that is used to soften water by removing the minerals that cause the water to be “hard”. When water contains a high level of calcium and magnesium it is called hard water. Hard water constitutes several problems throughout your home that you may or may not have noticed. Hard water is known to clog pipes, complicate soap and detergent dissolving in water, and leave behind water spots. It creates a scale buildup inside your pipes and water appliances reducing the efficiency of your water heater. It is mostly important to protect your home with softened water to prolong the lifespan of pipes and home appliances from scale buildup and clogging.

Hard water can be treated with a water softener to reduce the negative impacts of hard water. Water softeners are perfectly designed to remove ions which are positively charged. Anti-scale systems transform calcium ions into calcium crystals which are stable and cannot attach to pipes, surfaces, hardware or other fixtures.

At Blackburn Plumbing, our salt-based water softening systems are heavy duty systems that do an excellent job removing your water’s hardness. If you think there may be a hard water issue in your home or commercial building, please give us a call for more information. We would be glad to come out and test your water, and come up with a solution that will ease your pipes, your mind, and your budget.

Call Us Today!