Ever heard the term “hard water” before? It might apply to that water you have coming out of your faucet right now. If you don’t know if you have hard water or not, look at your dishes, sink, and fixtures. Is there a white, scaly buildup on them?
If so, you could benefit from a water softener in Rio Rancho, NM. Let’s explain how they work, what their benefits are, and discuss how hard water is likely making your life harder.
Less Hair and Skin Damage
Hard water doesn’t exactly help your skin or your hair. There’s a heavy presence of minerals in the water that can not only clog your pores (which is counter-intuitive since you’re trying to clear them out) but also interfere with your scalp’s ability to release oil for your hair.
While we clean our hair to strip those oils out, a certain amount of oil is important. When you brush your hair, it distributes that oil and it keeps your hair protected. You only clean it to remove the excess, but with hard water, you’re not producing enough oil in the first place.
Soft water still contains minerals, but the amount isn’t nearly as harsh as what you find in hard water. You have millions of pores, and they’re all covered up by minerals in your water.
Less Scale Buildup in Your Pipes
It’s annoying to clean white scale buildup from your faucet, but it’s still something you can do. What you can’t do is scrape it from the inside of your pipes, at least not without a plumber’s help.
Hard water creates more scale buildup inside your pipes. The softer your water is, the less buildup occurs in the first place. This works for all pipes, but especially drainage pipes in your sink and shower where hard water is constantly running down.
Your Hot Water Heater Will Thank You
Scale buildup on the anode rod of your water heater is a big problem and eventually leads to repairs. What if you prevented all that hard water from ever impacting the anode rod in the first place?
Less buildup over time means more water heater efficiency and less that needs to be siphoned from the bottom. As buildup happens in the bottom of your tank, it slowly reduces the total capacity of water that your tank can hold.
Let’s Leave You With Some Nuance
We’re painting a pretty picture here, but there are still some downsides to soft water that we think you should know about before you leave.
- Increased levels of sodium in soft water.
- Changes the taste of your water.
As always, you should use a home water filtration system to filter drinking water. Soft water does have a different taste to it, so keep that in mind before you install a soft water system.
Water Softeners Are the Right Move
The benefits of soft water are a major improvement over hard water. While there are some downsides that we’ve mentioned here, it’s important to note that they are minimal compared to what you stand to gain.
Beyond health, you’re not creating large-scale buildup in your pipes. There’s less scale on your fixtures, which means less cleaning and chemicals. It’s a win-win in almost every way.
Contact First Rate Plumbing Heating and Cooling Inc today to schedule your water softener system installation. Quality work, exuberant service.