If you’re looking to combat hard water damage in your home, look no further than a water softener! Many people have found this magical solution reduces contaminants in their water supply, not only within their water heater, but throughout their entire plumbing system. Apart from potentially saving you money on expensive plumbing repairs, it can also leave your scalp feeling clean, free from residue due to less mineral buildup, and your hair and nails looking great.
Stay tuned to discover 5 amazing benefits of having a water softener installed in your home. From sparkling dishes and glassware to longer-lasting fixtures, prepare to be amazed by its effectiveness!
What is a Water Softener?
A water softener is a device that uses an ion-exchange resin to reduce the hardness of water. Hard water contains calcium, magnesium, and other ions that leave deposits on plumbing fixtures, appliances, and water heaters, often causing scale buildup in pipes. This buildup can lead to damage and impair the effectiveness of your appliances. Installing a water softener can prevent these problems and provide many amazing benefits.
The water softener system operates by passing the hard water through a bed of resin beads coated with sodium ions. These beads exchange places with the hard ions in the water. This process, known as ion exchange, turns hard water into soft water by removing calcium and magnesium ions from the flow. The soft water contains only sodium, whereas before it contained calcium and magnesium, among other minerals.
Soft water can produce a richer lather with detergents, brighter colors in laundry, and even improve the taste of food cooked with it. Installing a quality water softener can save on maintenance bills, reduce wear & tear on household items and use significantly less soap or detergent for washing or cleaning versus using hard water! This is mainly due to less residue left behind, boosting the lather and effectiveness of these products.
Benefit 1: Healthier Hair, Nails, and Skin
Water softeners play a critical role in our health and happiness by transforming hard water into softened water that can be used without negative effects on our bodies. It does wonders for your scalp, hair, and nails, eliminating the harsh effects of mineral buildup. Hard water calcium deposits can cause dryness and brittleness, resulting in split ends, frizzy hair, and flaky nails.
Water softening removes these calcite minerals such as magnesium or calcium carbonates that can leave behind deposits like soap scum on surfaces and scale buildup in pipes or water heaters. Soft water does not contain these mineral deposits, so it puts significantly less strain on our hair and nails. These minerals are not left behind when the shower is over or when washing dishes. Softened water reduces dryness considerably leading to softer, more manageable hair with less split ends, as well as stronger, less flaky nails.
Benefit 2: Removal of Contaminants
A water softener is a great addition to any household. Besides reducing the amount of hard metals present in water, it helps to remove harmful contaminants, leaving the water healthier and more enjoyable for drinking. This gives you purified water with minimal residual effects.
A water softener system works by passing hard water through small tanks filled with resin beads which carry a positive charge. These resin beads attract and trap minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, and manganese and are then removed from the water. This process reduces the build-up of scale in pipes or inside a water heater while also removing potential bacteria or other potential contaminants that may be present.
Once you begin to use a water softener at home, the quality of your drinking water will likely improve dramatically due to the removal of these contaminants.
Benefit 3: Saving Money
Having a water softener in your home can save money in various ways. Soft water makes appliances more efficient, meaning they’ll last longer and require less maintenance. It also enhances the lather and effectiveness of detergents, soaps, and shampoos, leaving less residue on your body, scalp, and glassware, potentially saving money on household cleaning products.
Furthermore, because soft water is better able to remove dirt from fabrics during the washing process, your clothes will stay brighter and last longer. This can improve the appearance of your whites and other clothing items, and reduce the cost of having to replace items more often. With soft water, washing machines function more efficiently, leading to potential savings for homeowners.
Additionally, softened water does not leave harsh deposits on surfaces that must be removed with scrubbing agents. This is not only true for cleaning clothing but also proves useful while showering, where less residue is left on the skin and in the shower space. By reducing these deposits, homeowners can save time and replacement costs for these items in the long run.
Benefit 4: Improved Plumbing
A water softener system will help to reduce the amount of scale buildup throughout your plumbing system, including pipes and toilets. Hard water can cause calcium deposits to form inside pipes, leading to clogs and slow-flowing drains. The reduced limescale in soft water also means that appliance like dishwashers work more efficiently, making everyday tasks more convenient for homeowners.
Hot water tanks equipped with anode rods tend to last longer when soft water is used as it helps to prevent corrosion and calcification on the rod itself as well as other parts of the tank. Furthermore, it can reduce maintenance costs for pipes, showers, bathtubs, washing machines, and toilets over time because there is less cleaning needed to remove stubborn soap scum from hard water deposits.
Benefit 5: Cleaner Dishes
When discussing the benefits of having a water softener at home, one cannot overlook the fact that softer water means cleaner dishes and better-tasting water. When hard water is put through the dishwasher, it leaves spots and soap scum on dishes as it does not dissolve detergents properly.
With soft water washing dishes, it can save homeowners up to 70% of detergent costs and be ~6 times more effective at reducing spotting! Additionally, air drying provides better results when softened water is used rather than hard water, allowing you to also save on electricity by not using the a heating method on your dishwasher.
How to Choose the Right Water Softener
When looking for the right whole house water softener for your home, there are several important criteria to consider. First, you want to identify the type of system that is best suited to your needs — well water, city water, and number of bathrooms will all effect the best water soften system for you. Also depending on the type of water in your home and the various factors that might contribute to hard water, you may wish to take our short configurator quiz to find the best fit.
In addition, you’ll need to consider other factors including cost, installation requirements, energy efficiency, maintenance needs and warranty coverage. Different types of systems come with different features so it’s worthwhile comparing them side by side before making a decision. Each make and model performs differently in different conditions so doing your homework is key!
For salt-based systems, you must also consider tank size versus how much water is expected to be used each day. Tank capacity will affect how often salt needs replacing as well as how much wastewater is generated in between backwash cycles. Choosing the right size tank can help extend the life of a water softener system while ensuring better efficiency ratings too.
Conclusion
Overall, having a water softener in your home offers numerous advantages. You’ll be able to enjoy healthier hair and nails, cleaner and softer skin, clothes that look newer for longer periods of time, reduced monthly bills due to improved appliance efficiency, and better tasting drinking water. As if all that wasn’t enough, it will also help protect your plumbing and improve the longevity of your fixtures. Add the fact that you won’t have to worry about scaling or hard water further down the line, and you can easily understand why investing in a home water softener is a wise decision for homeowners.
Need more of a break down? Continue by reading our comparison of hard water vs soft water.
Sources:
- https://find.wqa.org/Portals/0/Technical/Water%20Softener%20Benefit%20Study_Part2.pdf
