Hard water is one of the most common water-related challenges for homes in San Marcos, and it’s no wonder—nearly 75% of households nationwide face the same issue. Below, we’ll explain what hard water is and how a water softener system can effectively resolve it, protecting your home and improving your water quality.

What Is Hard Water?

Water can be rated on a scale based on its hardness. Water that is said to be hard has a high concentration of minerals. More specifically, a high amount of both calcium and magnesium. In scientific terms, water is determined to be hard if it has 61 mg/L or more of calcium carbonate.

How Can You Tell If You Have Hard Water?

Wondering if your home has hard water? One of the most noticeable signs is limescale buildup—a white, chalky residue left on plumbing fixtures when water evaporates. This mineral deposit is a telltale indicator of hard water. For a more precise assessment, you can use an at-home water hardness test or have a professional plumber evaluate your water supply.

Why Is Hard Water Bad for Your Home?

While hard water is safe to use, it can cause numerous problems throughout your home. A primary issue is limescale buildup, which forms on plumbing fixtures, pipes, and appliances. This buildup can damage your plumbing, restrict water flow, and increase the risk of clogs over time. In addition, it reduces the efficiency of your water heater by creating scale on heating elements and tank walls, leading to overheating, higher energy costs, and eventual damage to the unit. Hard water doesn’t just affect your plumbing—it can wreck your appliances. Dishwashers, washing machines, and other water-using appliances must work harder to function, leading to more frequent repairs and shorter lifespans. The effects of hard water extend to your personal care as well. The minerals in hard water can dry out your skin and hair, leaving them feeling rough and itchy. It also makes cleaning more challenging, leaving a residue on dishes and clothes that requires more detergent and effort to remove. Ultimately, hard water impacts your home, your appliances, and even your daily routine.

How Can a Water Softener Help

If you have hard water in your home, it's best to treat it as soon as possible to help extend the overall longevity of all your plumbing fixtures, appliances, and so forth. The most effective tool for treating hard water is a water softener system. This system gets installed as close to your home's main water supply valve as possible. This will allow it to treat all the incoming water to your home before it reaches the majority of your piping, fixtures, and appliances.

How Does a Water Softener Work?

At its simplest definition, a water softener is responsible for removing excess minerals from your water. However, understanding the whole process of how a water softener works can help you to become better acquainted with how it can be effective for your home. While there are a couple of different water softeners on the market, they all tend to work with the same basic principle in mind. This is known as the ion exchange process. Water flows into a tank that is filled with resin beads. All of these resin beads are positively charged with sodium or, sometimes, potassium. As water goes through the resin beads, the magnesium, and calcium in the water are attracted to these positively charged sodium beads. This is because hard minerals naturally have a negative charge to them. Negatively charged ions always want to bond with positively charged ones. Simply put, the excess magnesium and calcium bond to the resin beads, and the remaining soft water flows out of the tank and throughout the rest of your plumbing system. Every so often the resin beads will need to be flushed of the magnesium and calcium ions and set back to be positively charged sodium ions. This is known as the regeneration process, and its overall frequency will highly depend on the specific type of water softener you have. During the regeneration process, all the magnesium and calcium lose their bond to the sodium and are flushed out into your drain. With a water softener system, hard water only travels in your home to the location of the water softener and then exits through your drain so that it can avoid going through all of your plumbing pipes.

Types of Water Softeners

By far, the most common type of water softener is a salt-based one. These units tend to be a bit bigger than other options on the market but are more affordable. They do require homeowners to keep up with regular refilling of salt for the resin beads to effectively do their job. It's very common for homeowners to wonder if adding salt to their water is going to change its taste. The truth is that water softeners use such a small amount of salt to decrease the hardness of water that it's typically unnoticeable for most homeowners. Salt-free water softeners are another option that can use potassium instead of salt to capture the excess magnesium and calcium ions. Potassium-based water softeners do require more frequent refilling of potassium than their salt-based counterparts. However, water treated with potassium chloride is much safer for things like your plants and is ideal for homeowners who have sodium intake issues.

The Various Benefits of a Water Softener

When you make the decision to invest in a water softener system for your home, it can come along with many great benefits. One important benefit is that it can help prolong the lifespan of your plumbing system and appliances. It will increase the overall operating efficiency of your water heater so that you can enjoy lower energy bills. When you bathe in softer water, you'll notice the results immediately. You’ll likely notice that your hair and skin will be more moisturized. When washing dishes or your clothes, you'll notice that it will be much easier to clean these items. You'll likely spend much less on cleaning solutions, as they will be more effective than before. Benjamin Franklin Plumbing® proudly provides top-quality water softener installation services to the San Marcos community. Contact us today to schedule an appointment!