The Benefits of Installing a Water Softener in Your Home
If your home has hard water, you may notice the wear and tear it can cause on your home and appliances. The dissolved minerals found in hard water can cause your home’s features to wear down and develop sludge.
In addition to prolonging your appliances’ lifespans, there are several benefits to using a water softener to soften your home’s hard water.
What Makes Well Water Hard
While well water isn’t necessarily always hard, you are more likely to have hard water if you have a well water source in your home. Well water is more likely to be hard because of the way it travels through the ground to get to your home.
When water moves through the ground, it collects calcium and magnesium minerals. These dissolved minerals make up hard water and cause your appliances to wear down.
Signs of Hard Water in Your Home
Finding out if you have hard water in your home can be easy once you start keeping an eye out for the signs. Several indicators point to hard water evidence.
Mineral Buildup on Your Faucet
A crusty buildup around your faucet and your sinks’ handles typically serves as a sign of hard water. Hard water has dissolved minerals that can collect around your faucet and sink, resulting in corrosion and buildup.
Watermarks on Dishware and Faucet
Do your plates and glasses appear spotty even after you wash them? Does your faucet still have watermarks after wiping it down? These could both be indicators of hard water.
The high concentration of minerals in the hard water can leave spots behind on your dishware and appliances after you’ve washed them.
Faded Clothing
Hard water causes clothing’s colors to fade quickly. If you think your clothes quickly lose their color and brightness, you should consider installing a water softener.
Dry and Itchy Skin and Hair
Dissolved minerals in hard water can stay on your skin and in your hair after you shower and bathe. This can cause your skin and hair to feel dry, itchy, and hard.
Low Water Pressure
When minerals collect within your home’s pipe system and on your faucets and spouts, it can cause your water pressure to decrease.
Broken Appliances
If you notice your appliances are breaking more quickly than usual, your hard water may be the source of the issue. Concentrated minerals can provide excess wear and tear on your appliances and cause them to break.
Losing Hot Water Quickly
Hard water is intrusive to many facets of your home. Appliances may be afflicted with the effects of hard water without breaking down right away, especially your water heater. A water heater has several components to help warm the water for your use. Over time, hard water’s assortment of minerals will build upon these components, causing them to run less efficiently.
Leaky Faucets and Pipes
Hard water contains corrosive minerals. Over time, hard water will eat away at your pipes and faucets, causing leaks in certain places.
Digestive Issues
While hard water won’t cause serious health effects, it can be the culprit for some of your digestive issues. Some minerals in hard water are actually what your body needs; however, others offer a challenge for your digestive system to break down, causing stomach aches and other digestive issues.
If you have a well water source in your home, you should keep an eye out for the signs indicating its hardness is impacting your home. Recognizing these indicators can help you prolong the lifespan of your belongings and appliances.
Benefits of Installing a Water Softener
Now that you know the signs of hard water, installing a water softener can help you revert these indicators. There are several benefits to installing a water softener and inviting soft water into your home.
Save Money
Installing a water softener in your home can save you money in several ways. Because your appliances will no longer take on the wear and tear that comes from a high concentration of minerals, you will save money on costly repairs and replacements.
Additionally, you may also save money on plumbing, as a water softener can prevent your pipes from getting clogged by a buildup of minerals. You may also save money on detergents and soap because soft water lathers and cleans with soap better. Soft water can create more suds with soap, which means you won’t need to use as much with each cleaning.
Softer Skin and Hair
Bathing and showering with soft water can help you clean your hair better. Because hard water has a high concentration of minerals, your hair and skin are often left feeling dry, coarse, and hard after a shower.
Not only is soft water able to lather with soap more efficiently, but it also doesn’t leave behind a collection of minerals on your skin and in your hair. Your skin will retain its natural oils better, and your hair will remain bright and soft after bathing in soft water.
Brighter Clothes and Cleaner Dishes
A high concentration of minerals in your water can cause your clothes’ colors to fade. Hard water can also leave behind spots on your dishes, making them appear dirty and unclean.
Soft water reacts better with soap and laundry detergent. Installing a water softener can allow you to maintain bright clothes and clean dishes more easily.
Better Tasting Water
If you have sipped hard water before, you know it tastes like pennies. An installed water softener extracts minerals from your water source, taking away that unassuming taste.
Contact Croix Crystal Water Treatment Today
Soft water can make several positive impacts on day-to-day life in your home. A water softener can provide you with many benefits from improving household chores to making your skin and hair feel softer. If you’re looking to further upgrade your water quality, consider installing a water filtration system!
If you think your home could benefit from a water softener. We can conduct a water test and provide you with expert installation services to ensure you get the best results possible.