Have Hard Water? 3 Things To Know About Purchasing A Water Softener
If you have hard water, it can do damage to your home. Hard water can damage your pipes and fixtures over time. It can also cause your appliances that use water, such as your water heater, washing machine, and dishwasher to wear out at a faster rate than they should. The best way to deal with hard water is with a water softener.
1. What A Water Softener Does
A water softener is designed to remove the elements in your water that make the water hard. It is designed to pull out the calcium, magnesium carbonate, magnesium, and manganese that can damage your pipes and your appliances and leave behind water spots. A water softener will take those elements out of your water, and help protect your home's plumbing system from unnecessary wear.
2. Where a Water Softener Goes
There are a few different places that you can set up your water softener. It can be set up to the area where the water enters your home so that all water goes through your water softener before it goes into your water heater. This is the best set-up if you want to be able to protect your water heater.
You should also put a water softener on the line that feeds directly to your fridge if you have an ice maker or water dispenser in your fridge. This can be a smaller water softener than the one connected to your main water line.
The water that goes to your outside spigots usually comes from a different line than the one that feeds your water heater. If you wash your car a lot, you may want to install a water softener on this line as well. That way, your car will not end up with water spots on it every time that you wash your vehicle.
3. How A Water Softener Works
A water softener uses salt ions to bind with the hard minerals in your water. The salt ions basically bind and trade places with the ions that you don't want in your water, such as magnesium and calcium. You are going to have to refill your water softener occasionally with new salt to keep this process going. Over time, the salt in your water softener will be depleted. When you change the salt, you will also clean out your water filter and get rid of the minerals that your water softener has pulled out of your water.
A water softener will remove minerals from the water that can damage your plumbing and appliances and leave water spots on your dishes and fixtures. Contact a company like American Water Treatment for more information and assistance.
