Are you tired of scraping limescale off your appliances and endlessly slathering lotion onto your dry skin? The culprit behind these issues is hard water.
Our municipal water goes through an extensive process of filtration before it reaches our taps, but that doesn’t mean that it’s infallible. If you’d like to get rid of the negative effects of hard water in your home once and for all, we’ve listed a few great options below.
What is Hard Water?
When you first hear the term “hard water” it’s a little odd. Water probably isn’t something you’d ever describe as “hard” on your own accord, but this term is typically a pretty familiar phenomenon in most homes. Hard water is what causes that ugly white build up you see on your dishes and around your showerhead, it’s what makes your hair feel stiff after a shower, and it’s why your laundry comes out dull and stiff.
To state it simply, hard water is water that has a high amount of mineral content. The standard minerals that you’ll find in hard water are calcium and magnesium and unfortunately for us, hard water is pretty common here in Calgary due to the high amount of calcium and magnesium in the water coming from the Bow and Elbow Rivers.
How it Affects Your Home and Body
The good news is that hard water isn’t a detriment to your health, but the bad news is that hard water is a detriment to just about everything else. Hard water affects your home and body in the following ways:
- Your Home: Hard water clogs your pipes. If you’ve had hard water in your home for years there’s no doubt that your pipes have accumulated layers of these mineral deposits. As the layers of mineral deposit get thicker and thicker it makes the width of your pipe much narrower—decreasing your water pressure and making your water “harder.”
- Your Body: Hard water makes your hair brittle, your skin dry, and clothes dull. Minerals in hard water reduce the ability of your shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and laundry detergent to dilute. Since these things can’t wash off well it really starts to irritate your skin. The same thing happens when you wash a load of laundry. If you have hard water, you might notice that your clothes are stiff or dull after a laundry cycle.
What You Can Do About It
If you’re tired of dealing with hard water in your home then the best thing you can do is install a water softener or conditioner. A whole-house water softening system uses a process of ion exchange to counteract hard water. It swaps out the hard water ions out for brine ions and softens to water in the process.
If you want a salt-free way to soften your home’s water then a water conditioner might be for you. It doesn’t actually make the water “soft” because it doesn’t remove the minerals, but it does reduce their ability to create limescale.
Hard water is a real nuisance in most homes, but you can fix this problem with our team by your side. If you want to install a water softener or water conditioner in your Calgary, AB home be sure to contact our team at Ace Plumbing and Heating to schedule an appointment.