Calling water "hard" means it contains too much calcium, magnesium and other minerals. Basically, groundwater acquires these minerals by way of dissolving them from the surrounding soil and rocks. Technically, industries measures water hardness in terms of grains per gallon (GPG). If the water is tested less than 8 GPGs then that means you have soft water. Slightly hard water is in the range of 8.18 - 12.27 gpg, Hard to very hard level begins at 18.69 gpg to over 30.96 grains per gallon.
What does this mean to your home water system? Hard water minerals can greatly reduce the water's ability to function efficiently in your home. Minerals like calcium and magnesium precipitate from the water source such as a reservoir or natural stream as scale. This calcium rich scale builds up gradually on household appliances that use this water such as heaters, tea kettles, coffee makers, on the inside of the water pipes and even on dishwasher and icemakers can consume this scale. You can expect increasingly poor flow on pipes as and these appliances making them less efficient and eventually cause serious damage to these units. Water hardness can also affect your kitchen and bathroom drinking water system. It also decreases the soap's ability to lather when you're using it in showers and from your faucets. When you begin to see a white film clogging shower heads and the bathroom spigot, your hard water problem has reached a point of danger to your household plumbing.
Household chores are already difficult to keep up with when you have a large family, who wants to increase the work load? That is exactly what hard water does to you and your water dependent appliances. There are solutions to combating the hard water problem in your home. It starts with a test that provides you with an indication of how severe the hardness is. There are several water treatment methodologies that address this challenges in specific areas of your home or a whole house water treatment system.
While most of these methods address your hard water problem, the water softener systems that have gained the most respect are those that soften water once it enters the home after leaving the municipal system. In the long run, it is more economical to extend the life of the fluid-reliant appliances like clothes washers and dishwashers and that is best accomplished prior to entering the home plumbing system. The process of ion exchange removes these electrically charged minerals of calcium and magnesium and replaces them with sodium in a one on one ratio. Although there are various water softener devices out in the market today, some softening systems treat the hard water at a single point of exit such as the shower, under the kitchen sink or before it enters the washing machine. It is important to test the water at it's point of entry since this is where your responsibility for the whole house water system begins. Culligan has well water testing kits that are easy to use and provide a very reliable view of the hardness of your water whether it comes from a well or municipal system. You may find out that you don't actually need water softeners and perhaps a carbon filter purifier at the tap may be all that is required to clean up your drinking water.
If it is determined that your drinking water is contaminated with more dangerous particulates, an ion exchange system may not be all that is required. Water chlorination may kill bacteria but it can also harm people so it is important that chlorine levels are also measured. A whole house water filter system for homes can lessen the effect of this problem. Drinking water filters for Chester County homes can be installed sparingly on your water system and may only deal the problem in such a small scale. A whole house drinking water filtration system can address to the water treatment requirement of your home, entirely; making all the water running safe and free from impurities.
