Softening Water

If your tap water comes from a well on your property, chances are, you have a water softener. There is also a good chance you have no idea why you have one, or what purpose it serves. Softening water is the most common choice to have better, drinkable tap water.

Most people who use water softeners have hard water. What is hard water? True hard water contains a lot of calcium, magnesium and many other minerals. Well water, or ground water, picks these minerals up as it travels in the ground to your well, and finally your faucet. Too many of these minerals in your water and it is considered hard water.

Hard water causes two main problems in your tap water supply.

• Hard water scale will build up everywhere your tap water runs. Faucets, drains, and pipes are all adversely affected by hard water. Coffee pots, tea kettles and even your pots, pans and dishes will get a scaly film from your hard water.
• The second issue is soap’s ability to bubble. The shampoo, dish soap, and laundry soap mixes with the minerals and creates that nasty, sticky, soapy scum that we all hate to clean

There are a couple of ways to remove these pesky minerals from your hard water. A quality water filter will reduce a lot of these minerals. Distillation and reverse osmosis are a couple choices for removing minerals from your hard water. By far, the most popular way to remove these destructive minerals is a water softener.

A water softener will solve this problem. Water softeners remove the hard part of your tap water and leave it scale free. Beware of the “salt free” water softeners. The technology is still young, and may actually not work as stated in ads.

It is the salt in the water softener that removes and dissolves minerals in your water. Water softeners will take the hard out of your water, but they also may add more sodium to your diet. A lot of health problems are caused by high sodium.

Reverse Osmosis water filtration is a better choice to reduce all contaminants, and not add to your sodium intake. But if you do not have sodium problems, and no other chemical contaminants, water softening may be the better choice for you and your tap water.

It is important to have your water tested to insure what is in there that you want out. Minerals, chemicals, and even living organisms can be lurking in your well water. Softening your water or filtering your water, be an informed consumer.