Hotels, restaurants, and other businesses rely on water softeners to provide customers with high-quality water. As a homeowner, you can reap many benefits from installing a home water softening system.
Hard Water vs. Soft Water
A natural question when considering a water softening system is whether you have hard water. According to the United States Geological Survey, hard water contains significantly more minerals than soft water. Calcium carbonate and magnesium are the two most common water-hardening minerals.
Soft water has between zero and 60 milligrams of calcium carbonate per liter of water. Water is hard if it has more than twice that amount of calcium in it or 121 milligrams per gallon. This calcium weighs as much as five grains of rice, so you can see how even a tiny amount impacts your home.
If your water has between 61 and 120 milligrams of calcium per gallon, you have moderately hard water. It’s easy to think your moderately hard water only affects your quality of life a little. At this level, however, hard water already performs differently. It also influences how your plumbing and appliances work.
- Stained sinks, drinking glasses, and more
- Less efficient household cleaning products
- Increased skin irritation
- Unpleasant bitter or salty taste
- Prematurely aged appliances, pipes, and fixtures
These are only a few of the problems caused by hard water. When you choose a water softening system from Southport Home Services, you can enjoy a reliable soft water supply. This is true whether you select reverse osmosis, ion exchange or other water softening option.
Get a Taste You’ll Crave
One of the best things about water softeners is that they make the water taste great! When the bitter taste of hard water is gone, homemade beverages and home cooking taste better, too. Soft tap water helps you save money on bottled water while upgrading your culinary game.
One of our most popular water softening options is an ion exchange system. This system removes minerals with the help of sodium chloride or salt. Since this system uses such a small amount of salt, water tastes fresh and pure.
One of our most frequently asked questions is about the sodium level of softened water. Our system produces water that falls well within the Food and Drug Administration’s low-sodium beverage category with only 750 milligrams per gallon of water. This is just one-third of the recommended daily intake according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Banish Bacteria and Other Unwelcome Substances
Bacteria, parasites, and other contaminants still make it into the Wausau water supply. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency routinely monitors tap water for more than 90 tap water contaminants. A reverse osmosis filtration system softens your water while protecting your family.
Reverse osmosis filtration pressurizes your water and sends it through multiple semi-permeable membranes. This system filters out organic materials, including the minerals that harden water. As a result, this system gives you pure, refreshing, and safer water.
See Brighter Clothes in Every Load
Soft water doesn’t just help you feel your best. It can help you look good, too. Laundry detergents don’t dissolve as completely in hard water, limiting their cleaning power. In hard water, detergents also leave a residue on your clothing.
When you use soft water, your clothes emerge from the wash cleaner and are brighter. Since detergent dissolves better in soft water, you can spend much less on laundry detergent. We’ve had customers who were able to use as much as 50% less laundry detergent.
Enjoy Smoother Skin and Softer Hair
Each time you wash your hands, you rub detergent on them. Like laundry detergent, hand soap is more likely to leave a film when you use hard water. This can irritate your skin. Soft water washing reveals healthy, radiant skin that makes you look good.
Shampoo is another personal care product that can leave a residue. Clarifying shampoos designed to remove this residue also strip your scalp of its natural oils. Water softeners are a much gentler way to nix the residue and get soft hair you’ll love.
Impress With Polished Plates
Water spots do more than create annoying marks on plates that are difficult to remove. Polishing them adds yet another task to your packed to-do list. Similarly, water can leave unsightly stains on plates that are also tough to remove. This is true whether you handwash your dishes or use a dishwasher.
Utensils, glasses, and plates are only a few items that are easier to care for with softer water. A thorough rinsing gives these items a fresh sparkle. Now, you can beautify your table without spending a dime on new plates, glasses, or silverware.
Boost Power in Your Shower
There’s nothing like a nice steamy shower to get things going in the morning. Unfortunately, if you have hard water, your day might start with a trickle. That’s because calcium and magnesium can clog showerhead holes, reducing your shower’s cleansing power.
Mineral-rich water can damage your water heater, too, giving you less hot water over time. Fortunately, water softening units can help reduce the wear on your water heater. This means that you’ll need to call our water heater repair or installation services less frequently.
Extend Plumbing Fixture and Pipe Life
Pipes are at the heart of all our Southport Home Services plumbing services. Your home needs good pipes to bring in refreshing water and hygienically remove any waste. Unfortunately, hard water can lead to build-up inside of pipes, impacting their performance.
If you live in an older home, you’ve probably seen an old faucet that becomes corroded and caked with dried mineral deposits. These are from long-term hard water exposure, and they reduce your fixture’s performance. Although we replace fixtures, we hope you can get the most life from them by choosing soft water.
Keep Drains Clear
Although the minerals in hard water are too small to block your drains physically, hard water can cause clogs. Mineral-rich water forms soap scum that you can see during our drain camera service. These hardened bits eventually clump and create more significant blockages.
Your kitchen and bathroom sinks aren’t the only place hard water clogs happen. The toilet can develop such deposits. Your garbage disposal is an example of an appliance that can develop this problem. Fortunately, water softeners can help keep such drains flowing freely.
Benefit From Water Softeners Today
Our Southport Home Services team is ready to remodel your bathroom, repair your sump pump, or diagnose home HVAC issues. No matter the job, our technicians and plumbers provide knowledgeable, efficient, and friendly service. We diagnose your issues and then provide the best solutions for you.
It’s time for home services that improve your home, health, and quality of life. Call Southport Home Services in Wausau to schedule a consultation for ion exchange, reverse osmosis, or other water softening options today!
