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What Is a Water Softener? The Secret to Clean Hair and Dishes

water-softener
BanksPhotos/iStock

“Water softening” might seem like a term out of a (rather dull) science-fiction movie; but, in fact, a water softener can make a big difference to homeowners. Essentially, a water softener strips hard water of certain minerals to make the water feel more luxurious and make your hair, body, and clothes cleaner.

Another huge benefit? “The ease of housekeeping and cleaning,” says Mike Donley, president of Phoenix-based Donley Plumbing and Air Conditioning.

“Once you get used to it, you really miss it when you’re traveling,” adds Donley, who has had water softeners in his last two homes.

Before we plunge into the details of water softeners, let’s cover hard water and why it’s not ideal to have in your home.

What is hard water?

Hard water refers to tap water that contains high amounts of dissolved magnesium and calcium. Your house likely has hard water if you notice the following:

  • Your dishes come out of the dishwasher coated in spots or film.
  • You see spots or soap scum buildup on your glass shower door.
  • You need to use more than the recommended amount of soap to wash your hair and body, or detergent to wash your clothing.

Although those effects are mostly cosmetic, hard water can cause serious damage to pipes. When hard water is heated, it can cause calcium carbonate to form around a faucet. Over time, this buildup can damage your pipes.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 85% of American homes have problems with hard water, with the hardest waters found in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Arizona, and Southern California.

What is a water softener?

A water softener is a device that is used to remove magnesium, calcium, and other ions that make water hard through a process called ion exchange.

How much does it cost?

Installation plus cost of the water softener typically ranges from $1,500 to $5,000, according to Donley. For $3,000, he says, you should be able to get a high-quality water softener for a medium-size home.

What should you look for in a softener? One that’s sized properly. The size of the softener is determined by the size of the water line entering your home (measured in gallons per minute) and the number of bathrooms. If you have it handy, the home inspector’s report should list the number of gallons per minute.

How to prep for water softener installation

In order to install a water softener, your home will need to already have installed a soft water loop (a copper line that loops out from the wall) near the main waterline. The main waterline will typically be in the utility closet or by the water heater. If your home doesn’t have a softener loop, a plumber will have to install one, which will take more time.

Installation can take anywhere from a few hours to all day. Be sure to clear the space around your main line so the plumber can reach it. Water will be shut off.

After the water softener is installed, ask the contractor or plumber to check the water hardness to ensure it’s working.

Unless you have copper soldering skills, it’s better to hire a pro to do this job, Donley says. Likewise, it’s typically in your best interest to have a contractor or plumber pick the water softener. If there’s a problem with the water softener, the plumber or contractor may repair the softener instead of charging you a separate fee.

Maintenance

To keep your water softener in working condition, clean the filter according to the manufacturer’s instructions. For most water softeners, you’ll want to periodically fill it with about 30 to 40 pounds of salt or potassium, which help flush out and clean the water softener’s filter.

Have a pro come out and service the water softener every three to four years, says Donley.

With proper care, a water softener should last about 10 years.

Original Source: https://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/water-softener/

Original Date: May 10 2018

Written By: Teresa Traverse

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Water Treatment Systems Improve Water Quality

There are a variety of water purification systems that can be used to improve the quality of the drinking water throughout your home.  To determine what type of water treatment system your home needs it is important to understand the qualities that each system offers in increasing water quality.  Professional water analysis can be done on your homes water to provide you with a more accurate look into the actual issues plaguing your water supply, from rust to arsenic, your drinking water could be affected.

Using the right system to purify the water in your home can help to keep your family healthy.  It is common knowledge that we need eight glasses of water or more each day to maintain personal health; purer, cleaner water dispensed from the faucets in your home help to increase the water that is consumed by your family daily.

There is a major difference between water softeners, conditioners, filtration systems and purification.  It is important to understand that water purification solutions leave valuable minerals in your water supply while eliminating harmful elements that may not be seen or smelt.  Hard water and smelly water issues are not solved with the installation of a purification system however common contaminants such as chlorine, cryptosporidium spores, giardia cysts, viruses, and pharmaceuticals are eliminated.

Not all water needs to be purified so it is crucial to understand the issues with your homes water before purchasing a water treatment system.  Water purification systems go a long way in removing common contaminates that may alter your health.  They can be installed so that they treat the entire supply of water throughout your home or specific areas where water is supplied.

Water softeners unlike water purification systems bring homeowners high quality drinking water by removing iron, rust, odor, sediment, and smells.  Softeners remove the minerals that make the water hard.  Some of the symptoms that your home could benefit from the use of a water softener is dry skins, smelly water, staining, and clogged plumbing.  Water softeners are installed treating the homes entire water supply.  Water softeners can use salt or potassium chloride using a process of ion exchange. 

The water treatment option that is used to bring you quality water will be determined by your water analysis.  There are times when a homes water supply will need more than one treatment solution to bring families quality water.  Hard water can contain contaminants that a water softener will not remove thus a water purification or filtration system needs to be installed either at the point of entry (whole house) or point of use (faucet).

At Reynolds Water Conditioning Company, we are here to help make sure our clients don’t buy water treatment systems that they don’t need.  We are here to make sure you find a water softening system that gives you the results you are looking for, whether it is to remove iron or odor from you water; we have a solution that will help!  For more information contact our experts at 800.572.9575 or at our website https://reynoldswater.com.

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Get Crystal-Clear Tap Water in Your Home Today

reverse-osmosis-filter
iStock; homedepot.com

Reverse osmosis sounds like something we learned in science class, but what does a reverse osmosis water filter do? In a nutshell, it helps homeowners get better-tasting water by removing certain elements. After installing a reverse osmosis system, many folks appreciate the high-quality water that comes out of their taps; the water tends to taste and smell better, and the ice cubes are clear.

“It’s as if you’re drinking bottled water without the bottles,” says Mike Paice, a water specialist with the Sunny Plumber in Las Vegas.

Evian-quality water flowing freely from your kitchen faucet? It sounds like a real money saver, especially if you frequently buy bottled water. Read on to learn if installing an RO water filter in your home is a good decision for you.

What is a reverse osmosis water filter?

Water that runs through an RO system is filtered a number of times: through two different types of liquids and a permeable film that allows through only the water molecules. Therefore, the water that comes out of your faucet will be rid of impurities but still have important minerals.

RO systems are typically installed under the kitchen sink, and the filtered water comes out of a separate faucet. The filtration system can have anywhere from two to five filters, but the number of filters isn’t as important as the integrity of the filters, says Paice.

The two filters you’ll want to look for are carbon and sediment. These filters will remove contaminants such as Giardia, salmonella, E. coli, and Norovirus, and common chemicals, including sodium, chloride, copper, chromium, and lead, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Paice says to make sure the water filter you purchase is certified by the Water Quality Association.

RO water filters last about 10 years.

Reasons to not install a reverse osmosis filter

If your home’s water pressure is below 65 psi (pounds per square inch) or higher than 100 psi, you might have issues with an RO system.

When you put water in a filter system, it reduces the water pressure. If the water pressure is too low, your ice maker won’t get enough water and your showers will be miserable.

But if the pressure is too high, the pipes on the RO system can break and potentially flood your home. This is rare, but it can happen. If you’re seriously considering installing an RO filter, the smartest thing to do is consult a plumber to determine if it will work with your home’s water system.

If you want to test your home’s water pressure yourself, place a pressure gauge on your hose bibb, aka the faucet on your home’s exterior. If water pressure is an issue, you can still get a filter, but you’re more likely to have problems, says Mike Donley, president of Phoenix-based Donley Plumbing and Air Conditioning.

Demineralizing the water can remove beneficial elements such as calcium or fluoride from the water. But cooking with demineralized water is also shown to keep essential elements from food, so it might be wise to speak with your doctor before installing an RO filter.

Maintenance

One of the biggest advantages of an RO system is that you can install it and not bother with it for a while. They’re very low maintenance, and the filters need to be changed only once a year. You can do this yourself or hire a pro. If you go the DIY route, make sure you’re buying the appropriate filter for your system and that you shut the water off before you change the filters. The cost of a visit from a plumber is about $150, says Donley.

Every few years, you’ll have to repressurize the storage tank, which is a job for your plumber.

Installation and cost

The average cost of an RO system, including installation, is $500 to $700, according to Donley.

If you’re having a system installed, you’ll want to clear out the space underneath the sink for the plumber. Installation will take a few hours. Afterward, you’ll have to flush the system out a few times. You also won’t be able to drink from the faucet when the system is being flushed out and the storage tank fills with water. But within a half-day, you should have fresh drinking water.

Original Source: https://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/reverse-osmosis-water-filter/

Written By: Teresa Traverse

Published Date: April 16 2018

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4 Ways Water Softeners Improve Your Waters Quality

Water plays an important role in our everyday life and overall well-being, so it’s only prudent to ensure that we have a continuous supply of quality water for our homes, not only for our own good, but for the good of our appliances, energy bills, and of course our wallets.

The most cost-effective way of improving the quality of your water is using a water softener. Why? Water is often described as either hard or soft water.  Most often your water is hard if you have had to call a plumber a couple of times to remove an unsightly scam build-up in your drains.

Hard water is the most prevalent in many households, and it’s considered “hard” because it contains a high concentration of dissolved minerals and impurities, most predominantly calcium and magnesium collected when the water moves through soil and rocks. While they are good minerals for your health, like too much of anything, too many minerals in your homes water can wreak havoc to laundry, household appliances, clog pipes, washing machines, water tanks, boilers, and renders soaps, detergents and cleaning products less effective.

Even though hard water doesn’t seem to pose a health risk, the damages an over-abundance of minerals can do are serious.   Consider the following benefits of using a water softener system.

  • Water Softeners Remove Impurities in Your Homes Water

Water is a great carrier of impurities and installing a water softener system will remove the high concentration of calcium, magnesium, and other minerals that make water hard troublesome. Using a water softener will prevent iron/rust staining, mineral build up, dry hair and skin, and an abundance of bothersome issues that arise from hard water.

  • Water Softeners Eliminate Limescale Build-Ups

The high mineral content in the form of calcium and magnesium in hard water reacts with detergents, soap, and shampoos creating an abundance of soap scum build-up.  If you’re tired of scrubbing scum build-up around the tub, sinks, or dishes then it is time to use a water softener system as this will help eliminate the build-up and improve the quality of your water.

  • Water Softeners Create Water That Is Soft Thus Better for Your Skin and Hair

Hard water is particularly harsh on the skin especially for people with conditions such as dermatitis, eczema, and psoriasis, because it leaves the skin extra dry and very irritated, thus causing extreme discomfort and more frequent, severe outbreaks. Hard water also makes your hair feel extremely rough and prolonged use can lead to brittle hair and eventually hair breakage.

  • Water Softeners Can Save Users Money Over Time

Hard water decreases the lifespan of your appliances, makes cleaning hard, blocks your pipes. It results in using more water, energy, maintenance bills, cleaning products, and more. Not only will installing a water softener system improve the quality of your water, but it is also affordable to run and use for only a few bucks a year.

At Reynolds Water Conditioning Company, we are here to help make sure our clients don’t buy water treatment systems that they don’t need.  We are here to make sure you find a water softening system that gives you the results you are looking for, whether it is to remove iron or odor from you water; we have a solution that will help!  For more information contact our experts at 800.572.9575 or at our website https://reynoldswater.com.

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Is Alkaline Water Really Better for You?

Is Alkaline Water Really Better for You?

By Alice Callahan

Q. Are there benefits of drinking alkaline water, or is what I’m reading just a bunch of hooey?

A. Despite the claims, there’s no evidence that water marketed as alkaline is better for your health than tap water.

“It’s all about marketing,” said Tanis Fenton, a registered dietitian and epidemiologist at Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. “There is no science to back it up.”

The pH scale indicates whether a liquid is more acidic (lower pH) or alkaline (higher pH). Pure water has a neutral pH of 7, while tap water has some natural variation depending on its mineral content. Most bottled waters are slightly acidic, and sodas and juices are even more so.

Bottled waters marketed as being alkaline typically claim to have a pH between 8 and 10. Some are from springs or artesian wells and are naturally alkaline because of dissolved minerals. Others are made with an ionizing process, and water ionizing machines are also marketed for home use.

Alkaline water companies make vague claims that it will “energize” and “detoxify” the body and lead to “superior hydration.” And some claim that ionized water can prevent everything from headaches to cancer.

But there’s no evidence that drinking water with a higher pH can change the pH of your body, or even that this outcome would provide benefits.

Blood is tightly regulated at around pH 7.4, while the stomach, which secretes hydrochloric acid to digest proteins and kill food-borne pathogens, is very acidic, with a pH of 1.5 to 3.5. If you drink water that is slightly alkaline, Dr. Fenton said, the hydrochloric acid in the stomach quickly neutralizes it before it’s absorbed into the blood.

Several small studies funded by companies that sell alkaline water suggest that it could improve hydration in athletes, but any potential benefits were modest, and an easier way to improve hydration is just to drink more water. And a 2016 review of research by Dr. Fenton and a colleague found no evidence that alkaline water or an alkaline diet could treat or prevent cancer.

A study published last year found that adopting a plant-based diet and drinking alkaline water worked as well as medications to alleviate their symptoms of laryngopharyngeal reflux, a severe form of acid reflux in which stomach acid travels all the way up to the throat. “I think that it can be a helpful tool for patients to help with their symptoms while they’re transitioning to a more plant-based diet,” said Dr. Craig Zalvan, the study’s lead author and a laryngologist at Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. But he believes that most of the improvement in his patients comes from dietary changes rather than alkaline water. Once symptoms improve, he says there’s no need to keep drinking alkaline water.

There are also hints of potential risks from alkaline water. Rat pups given alkaline water showed impaired growth and damage to cardiac muscle. And a 2015 report said that when a municipal water plant in a town in Germany accidentally increased the water’s pH to 12, skin burns ensued. While such a high pH is unlikely in bottled alkaline water, it’s a reminder that a higher pH isn’t necessarily better.

“The only health effects that we know of are danger signs, so for people to continue to market alkaline water — they’re really as bad as the snake oil salesmen of yesteryear,” Dr. Fenton said.

Original Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/well/eat/alkaline-water-health-benefits.html

Original Date: April 27 2018

Original Author: Alice Callahan

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3 Signs You May Need a Water Softener

Are you noticing stains in your kitchen sink?  Is your skin dry and itchy?  These are both signs that you might have an issue with hard water.  The fix for hard water is most often the installation of a whole house water softener.  The installation of a water softening system will improve the natural life of the plumbing within the home, your appliances, your clothing and more.

A water softening system are designed to take out an increase in calcium and magnesium ions be means of an exchange with either sodium or potassium ions.  After this occurs the softening unit will regenerate and cleanse the systems of excess ions until they have been rejuvenated with new sodium or potassium ions.  It is important to know the level of your waters hardness when setting up the rate at which your family uses water.  It is important that the water you use every day is replenished in order to keep the build up of scale within your plumbing at a minimum while helping to improve your water heaters lifespan.

Here are some signs to help you determine if you need a new water softener installed or an older water softener replaced:

There is build up on appliances:

Can you see mineral deposits forming on coffee pot, the dishwasher, or other appliances?  If you can visually see this scale occurring, then image what is happening inside the pipes where you cannot see.  This scale will clog your homes plumbing and make it so that the water is not passing through the pipes as intended.  Hard water brings on a buildup of scale, eventually creating inefficient plumbing.  The hard, chalky substance, scale, is created from a build up of calcium and magnesium bicarbonate.  The technology within water softener systems helps reduce the scale build up with ions exchange technology.

Dry skin and hair:

Extra calcium and magnesium salts within your homes water causes itchy, dry skin and hair.  This is not something that can be overcome with soap and shampoo.  When the build up is too much the water will no longer bring nourishment to your skin and instead it dries it out.  The extra minerals found in the unsoftened water create an environment that doesn’t allow soap to be completely removed from the skin.

Clothing, sheets and blankets:

Are the fabrics within your home looking faded and feeling scratchy on your skin?  This can be do to hard water which contains an excess amount of mineral substances.  It will not matter what kind of laundry soap, softener, or fabric sheets are used while doing laundry, if you are doing your wash in untreated, unsoftened water.  The installation of the right water softener for your home and water can change this.

If you sense an issue with your homes water, it is probably time to have the water tested.  A professional water conditioning company will do a detailed analysis of the water coming into your home and prepare a report offering water treatment solutions to fix the issues with the water in your home.

At Reynolds Water Conditioning Company, we are here to help make sure our clients don’t buy water treatment systems that they don’t need.  We are here to make sure you find a water softening system that gives you the results you are looking for, whether it is to remove iron or odor from you water; we have a solution that will help!  For more information contact our experts at 800.572.9575 or at our website https://reynoldswater.com.

 

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What Is Hard Water? How It Can Wreak Havoc on Your Home

hard-water-buildup
tzahiV/iStock

What is hard water? It’s water that contains high levels of certain minerals—namely calcium and magnesium (soft water, by comparison, lacks these elements).

Homeowners who learn that their water is “hard” might wonder if it is OK. While hard water poses no serious health risks, it can nonetheless cause various problems within a home.

Here’s where hard water comes from, how to check for it, and what you can do to remediate the negative effects.

Where does hard water come from?

If a home’s water comes from a well, there’s a stronger likelihood it’s hard because groundwater is often naturally full of minerals, says Stephen Johnson, an Ashburn, VA–based field supervisor at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.

In particular, hard water forms when it drains through deposits of limestone, which are rich in calcium and magnesium. However, hard water can also be found in city water systems.

Hard water is a common issue: An overwhelming 85% of U.S. homes have water of some level of hardness, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Research from the Environmental Protection Agency shows these six cities have the dubious honor of having the hardest water in the country:

  • Indianapolis, IN
  • Las Vegas, NV
  • MinneapolisSt. Paul, MN
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • San Antonio, TX
  • Tampa, FL

What are the negative effects of hard water?

Hard water can have a negative effect on the maintenance of your home, warns Fred Webster, president at MillTown Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning, and Drain Cleaning, in Chelmsford, MA. The effects can include the following:

  • Clogged or corroded pipes: Hard water can create major plumbing issues. Scale deposits from hard water can build up inside pipeslike plaque inside an artery, constricting the flow of watereventually causing backups that need to be addressed by a plumber.
  • Poor water heater efficiency: A study by the Battelle Memorial Institute, a global science and technology research firm, found that water heaters with hard water can be up to 25% less efficient than water heaters with soft watera loss of energy that can, in turn, drive up your homes utility bills.
  • Appliances that can malfunction: When left untreated, hard water can cause appliances such as refrigerators, ice makers, washing machines, and dishwashers to leak, malfunction, or use more energy, Johnson says.
  • Water stains: When hard water evaporates from the surface of your tub, sink, or toilet, it can leave the minerals behind in the form of water stains. The good news? Most hard water stains can be treated by cleaning the affected area with rags soaked in white vinegar.
  • Odor and bad taste: Hard water tends to have a rotten egg smell and a metallic taste, Webster says. In most cases, though, hard water is still safe to drink regardless of its funk or taste.
  • Skin irritation: Showering in hard water can cause dry skin, since the mineral deposits suck the moisture out of your skin, Webster says. Minerals drying on the skin can also clog pores and cause flaking and itching.

How to test for hard water

You can buy a water test kit online or from a home improvement store for about $30 to test your water yourself, but many plumbers offer customers free water testing, Webster says.

“Plumbers either send someone to your home to take a water sample, or the homeowner sends in a water sample, which is then sent to a lab for testing,” says Webster. “The lab results will show us exactly what’s in the water.”

Have hard water? Here’s what to do

If you discover your home has hard water, don’t panic. “Usually, a water softener will take care of the situation,” Webster says.

Water softeners, which hook up to your plumbing lines, can reduce the water’s hardness by removing minerals from your water supply.

Here’s how it works: As the hard water passes through the softening tank, negatively charged magnetic beads attract the positively charged calcium and magnesium particles, but allow the water to pass through.

If you’re fairly handy with tools, you can install a water softener system yourself by buying a basic installation kit and unit for about $500. Otherwise, professional installation costs about $800 to $1,000 for a one- to two-bedroom home. Water softener systems generally last about 15 years.

If you’re buying a house with extremely hard water, you may have to install a water filtration system to address the issue, Johnson says.

Filtration systems tend to be more expensive than water softener systems. According to HomeAdvisor, the national average is $1,683. If you can’t spring for a water filtration system for your entire house, smaller systems that hook up to just one tap (say, the one you drink out of) are also available.

Original Source: https://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/what-is-hard-water/

Original Date: Apr 18, 2018

Original Author: Daniel Bortz

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What Is the Best Filtration System for me?

Quality water throughout your home is immensely beneficial from a health perspective and therefore should be free of harmful containment’s before consumption or use.  One way that this can be done is through the use of a whole house water filtration system.  In order to be sure that you install the proper filtration device for the water coming into your home it is important to hire a professional water company to analyze your current water supply.  The experts will then assist you in determining the system that is the most effective, most durable, and most affordable.

There are a number of factors to consider when looking to choose the right filtration system for your home.  The primary factors that experts will be looking into are:

  • How effectively the filter system removes contaminants?
  • How advanced the contamination removal technology is?
  • How affordable the filtration system is?

Contaminants

Through research on contaminants and how filtration systems work homeowners can see how different filtration products are meant to filter out different types on contaminants.   It is helpful for homeowners and water quality experts to identify the contaminants that are existent in the water before they move forward with the decision-making process.  The water quality report is helpful in determining what kind of water is currently coming into your home.  Once the contaminants inside the water are narrowed down, the filtration system choice will be narrowed down further.

Contamination Removal Technology

Most water filtration systems that are used to improve the quality of water coming into your home use similar technology.  It is important that homeowners keep in mind that even though similar not all filtration technologies are created equally.  Carbon filter systems, for example, come in different levels of effectiveness and generally remove contaminants like asbestos, Mercury, and chlorine from the water.  Mechanical filters can assist in removing different types of sediment however will not influence chemical contaminates. Similarly, water softening units use ion exchange technology in order to lower the magnesium and calcium levels but do not have an effect on most other contaminants.

Affordability

As with any and all home improvements, cost is one of the primary determinants in the decision.  Water conditioning companies, like Reynolds Water Conditioning, will present a variety of systems that meet the homeowners needs.  The cost of filtration will vary significantly between filtration systems depending on the options the systems offer above and beyond the filtration benefits.  Higher end filtration units may offer other benefits such as softening, purification, and conditioning therefore will be more expensive then systems that encompass only the filtration of the water in the home.  If a whole house water filtration system proves to be too costly and under the sink water filtration unit is another option for quality drinking water.

At Reynolds Water Conditioning Company, we are here to help make sure our clients don’t buy water treatment systems that they don’t need.  We are here to make sure you find a water softening system that gives you the results you are looking for, whether it is to remove iron or odor from you water; we have a solution that will help!  For more information contact our experts at 800.572.9575 or at our website https://reynoldswater.com.

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Hard Water Proves Hard on Your Wallet

(BPT) – Hard water, which contains high levels of calcium and magnesium, can be found in nearly 90 percent of American homes. These minerals cause scaling, a buildup that clogs waterlines and plumbing forcing appliances to work harder and operate less efficiently. The scale may also harbor bacteria. The only way to truly remove the hard and soft scale from household water systems is with salt-based water softeners.

The environmental and cost benefits of salt-based water softening are significant. Hard water scaling can cause your showerhead to lose up to 75 percent of its flow rate in just 18 months. Hard water also interacts negatively with soap, reducing its cleaning power. Soft water is up to 12 times more effective at cleaning dishes than increasing the amount of detergent used.

According to the Water Quality Research Foundation for washing machines, the most important factor in removing stains from clothing was water softness. Reduction of water hardness was up to 100 times more effective at stain removal than increasing the detergent dose or washing with hotter water. In fact, soft water can reduce soap use by as much as half. Hard water can also reduce the efficiency of water heaters and increase electricity costs by as much as 48 percent, according to the Battelle Memorial Institute.

Hard water scaling doesn’t just harm your appliances and wallet, it can harm your health as well. The piping used in home plumbing, whether it is copper or PVC, has very smooth interior surfaces that don’t permit bacteria to settle and grow. However, hard water results in scale formation on the interior surfaces of those pipes and that provides a perfect home for bacteria.

Researchers at the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University found bacteria may grow in pipes filled with both hard scale and soft scale at the same rate. This is important new information because some forms of water conditioning produce this soft scale. The only solution is to remove both hard and soft scale in the pipes with a salt-based water softener.

Hard water you use to wash your fresh fruits and vegetables may actually contain more bacteria, and the problem isn’t only in the kitchen. When you take a hot shower the steam you are inhaling can also contain the same microbial contamination that is in the rest of your plumbing, exposing you to bacteria such as Legionella, which can cause Legionnaire’s disease.

A salt-based water softener is the most functional and cost-effective means of removing hardness minerals. It is a time-tested, highly reliable tool to improve health and to lower maintenance costs for home appliances like dishwashers and washing machine. It also reduces the need for detergents and high-water temperatures, leading to a smaller household carbon footprint.

Original Source: http://www.therandolphleader.com/online_features/real_estate/article_e222f80e-3718-515e-8b3c-feea53a7a69e.html

Original Date: April 11 2018

Original Author: Brandpoint (BPT)

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Benefits of Point-Entry and Point-of-Use Water Systems

Safe drinking water is a concern to most homeowners.  Even with existing laws and regulations in place that strive to ensure that everyone has access to clean water many homes have water supplies that are lacking in quality. Measures are often put into place, by homeowners, to increase the quality of the water coming into homes with extra attention being given to the filtration and purification of drinking water.

There are multiple water treatment systems that are available to homeowners, each with their own unique abilities to increase the quality of the water supply in your home.  Two such systems include point of use and point of entry water treatment systems.  Both types of systems are used to soften, condition, purify, or filter that water supply and can be installed for both residential and commercial use.

Using a Point Of Entry Water System

Point of entry water treatment systems connect directly to your homes water line.  A water softener is one type of point of entry water treatment system.  The water softener acts as a central filtration station for the water that is distributed to your entire home or office.  Often a point of entry system is referred to as a whole-house solution for smelly water, hard water, or water with a high mineral count.  These systems are used to remove bad tastes, foul odors, and contaminated before the water reaches your kitchen, bathroom, laundry, or irrigation systems.

Point Of Use System Differnces

On the other hand, a point of use system is installed directly at the source of water retrieval such as out door spickets, kitchen faucets, bathroom sinks, and showers.  Most homeowners choose a point of use system in addition to a point of entry system.  For instance, if your homes water has been found to have high levels of arsenic in it a point of use system arsenic removal system can be installed to prevent arsenic from entering your drinking water where as the water in your showers is fine to use even with low levels of arsenic.  Point of use water treatment systems are often cheaper than point of entry systems as they are only being used to provide filtration to one source.

Benefits of Using Either Option For Water Treatment

There are multiple benefits that homeowners receive from using point of entry and point of use water treatment systems.

  • Point of use and point of entry filtration systems help keep your home safe from contaminants and chemicals that are found at the water source. Installing both systems will help ensure the water is free of contamination both from the source and just before it’s expelled from your tap.
  • A point of use filtration system can work well in isolation and it is an economical filtration system which can only be installed at a single water outlet.
  • When used together, point of use and point of entry systems can help ensure that you and your family have maximum protection from water contaminants which can cause illnesses. Adding a water softener into the system guarantees that your water is not just safe for consumptions but adequate for other use such as bathing and cleaning.

 

At Reynolds Water Conditioning Company, we are here to help make sure our clients don’t buy water treatment systems that they don’t need.  We are here to make sure you find a water softening system that gives you the results you are looking for, whether it is to remove iron or odor from you water; we have a solution that will help!  For more information contact our experts at 800.572.9575 or at our website https://reynoldswater.com.

 

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