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.

Like this post? Share it!

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.

Like this post? Share it!

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.

Like this post? Share it!

Water Softener vs Water Filtration

When it comes to treating the water that comes into your home we know that you have a lot of questions and concerns. With the number of options available in treating residential water quality it can become quite difficult to differentiate between the products available and their purpose. The question we get most often is regarding the difference between water filtration and water softening. In this installment we will look at the differences and how you know what the best option for your home is. Of course, as always FREE water analysis is available through Reynolds Water Conditioning Co; our experts will better be able to evaluate your need in person.

Let’s start by looking at what each system is and what it offers to the quality of water that you will end up with using each specific water treatment option.

Water Softeners

Water softeners are installed to soften the water within your home. They are designed to remove only that materials and containments within the water that create hard water including magnesium and calcium. Two general types of water softening units exist: water softeners that use salt to chemically modify the water and those that use potassium, otherwise known as salt-free water softeners.

Water Filtration

Water filtration is a general term used to describe many different options in removing contaminants from water including rust, iron, arsenic, copper, sediment, pesticides, and even hormones that enter water supplies through industrial or pharmaceutical waste. There are two types of systems to consider in water filtration: whole house filtration and point-of-use water filtration systems.

Although similar in nature you can see how each uses specific technology to improve the quality of water. What option(s) you choose will depend on your specific water quality. Some homeowners may find that even after they have installed a water filtration unit they are still left with hard water. The water quality may be better but still hard affecting their skin, appliances, clothing, and so forth. In this case the best option may be to install a whole house water softener with a point-of-use water filtration system to maximize your homes water quality.

Do You Have Issues With Your Water?

If you suspect issues with your homes water quality, does it smell bad, stain, or create residue build up, or have recently found out through a home inspection that the quality of the water entering your home is sub-par it is imperative that you reach out to the water quality experts at Reynolds Water Conditioning Company.

Like this post? Share it!

What Type of Water Treatment System Does Your Home Need?

In today’s world where we are surrounded by all sorts of impurities, filtered water is becoming a necessity. Our health is largely based on the amount of high quality drinking water we take in every day. It is crucial that the water we are drinking does not contain harmful chemicals, pollutants, parasites, organic waste, and other imperfections. There are several ways that one can go about procuring drinking water such as buying bottled water, but a better long run solution is to treat the water that is entering your home. It is also crucial that water treatment systems are maintained and running efficiently to ensure the quality of your families drinking water.

How Water Softeners Work

A water softener is a water treatment device that uses chemical methods to reduce the level of hardness of water. Depending on the type of water flows into your home you may need to use a water softener to ensure that your family’s water is free of excess minerals and elements that cause damage. A professionally installed water softener can drastically remove the hardness factor of the water entering your home and can transform it into soft, safe, usable water.

Hard water is not only harmful to ingest it can give you a tough time with cleaning, washing, soap removal, and maintaining health. If the hardness is removed from the water sufficiently then the soft water that is produced in the process will be as good as any other natural soft water.

Using Additional Iron Filters

A whole house water softener with an additional iron filter can be effective in purifying your water and improving your health. When your home or business has extremely hard water, a water softener with an iron filter can most often take care of the problem. These units are unlike regular activated carbon filters. They are specifically designed to remove iron and when the filter is full it flushes the iron deposits down the drain and begins the process over again. This seems to be a more common occurrence with drilled wells than municipal water sources.

Iron deposits in the water table often find their way into wells. The amount in water can vary a great deal from different areas. Some areas only have a trace amount of iron while neighboring wells could be producing orange-tinted water that leaves stains on fixtures with in the home. Water softeners that use additional iron filters remove toxic, heavy metals from drinking water. These systems are highly recommended for their ability to effectively block iron, Sulphur, manganese, sediment, and turbidity from water. Before choosing a system, it is crucial to have your homes water tested by a professional water treatment company.

Using Reverse Osmosis to Treat Water

Another option to treat water is reverse osmosis. A reverse osmosis water softening system uses hydraulic pressure is put on the water to act against the osmotic pressure naturally occurring in water. Purified water is then collected on the lower part of the membrane. This three-stage process purifies water, renders it clean, softens water, and then adds necessary minerals that add an amicable taste to the water.

Reverse osmosis water softener produces purified water containing no salts, sugars, ions or molecules that have been dissolved before filtration. With this method water will not have the same pleasant taste of other types of filtration. Over 97% of the hardness in water passed through reverse osmosis water softener is removed by the process. The most vital function of this filtration system is that it kills the bacteria and germs in the water.

Like this post? Share it!

How do Water Softeners Work?

A water softener is a special type of filter that eliminates calcium and magnesium in hard water and replaces them with sodium through the ion exchange system. Since calcium and magnesium interfere with the action of soaps and detergents while sodium does not, a water softening system is important to ensure detergents are able to eliminate dirt and oil stains more effectively. It also provides a slippery feel to the skin when you wash.

Components Of A Water Softener

A water softener is made up of three major components –a resin or mineral tank, a control valve, and a salt-water tank. The mineral tank is the area where water softening takes place and incoming water passes through plastic-like beads also known as resin and made of polystyrene. These beads have a charge that is negative, attracting calcium and magnesium from the water since they are positively charged.

The attraction ensures calcium and magnesium adheres to the plastic beads as water flows through the tank. As the water gets to the bottom area of the tank, “softening” would have taken place. The “softened” or conditioned water now passes through a riser tube and outlet manifold, before it is distributed through a cold-water pipe to the house.

Over time, the resin droplets become caked with calcium and magnesium and must be “recharged” or cleaned to be as efficient as it should be. The control valve exerts some form of control in the system since the recharge process is designed to take place based on the amount of water processed. Each cubic foot of resin can efficiently eliminate calcium and magnesium minerals from about 3,200 gallons of hard water. By contrast, about 750mg of sodium is in turn added each water gallon. This sodium content is considered as low range. However, for people who are concerned about sodium intake in general, resins that release potassium is the best option – although it is expensive.

A Process Of A Brine Tank

In association with the mineral tank, a brine tank helps with the regeneration process. During the “brine cycle”, salty or brine water is pumped out from the brine tank into the mineral tank. As water passes through the plastic beads, sodium is exchanged with the ions in the hard water, regenerating the attraction of the plastic beads in the process. When the brine tank is empty, a “slow rinse process” begins, which is followed by a more forceful rinse. These two cycles allow fresh water to rinse excess salts from the mineral tank, expelling it down the drain before the brine tank is refilled.

After the washing away of the hard water ions and any excess sodium, the brine tank is refilled, returning the system back to service cycle to begin the water softening process again. Since the regeneration process allows for the dissolution of salt in the brine tank, it is important that salt is replenished from time to time.

Contact Us

Like this post? Share it!

Reasons to Purchase a Whole House Water Filter

One of the most vital elements that homeowners need to think about is the water in their home. Is the water safe? Can you drink water from the tap? Is the water hard? Does it leave stains on clothes or landscape? The water in your home is important and its importance increases every day because our water supply can be severely impacted due to several different elements. Contaminants can find their way into a homes water supply either by accident or by incident. Unfortunately, this keeps happening and at quiet an alarming rate. It is important for homeowners to be more aware of what is in the water coming from their homes.

In order to keep your homes water, it is essential to remove what is lurking in your homes water. One of the best ways that this can be accomplished is by installing a water softener, purification, arsenic removal, or filtration system. These water treatment solutions help keep your homes water safe for drinking, cooking, bathing, laundry, and a host of other activities.

Water treatment systems including a whole house water filtering system are important for a variety of reasons including:

First Line of Defense

A whole house water filter is important when it comes to the drinking water quality in your home. The water treatment systems that are in place within the house are the first line of defense in eliminating contaminants within your homes water supply.

High Mineral Content

If your homes water has high levels of minerals it can result in hard water throughout the home with can be a real problem for homeowners. Hard water allows plaque to build up in your homes plumbing equipment, is unhealthy to drink, wears out clothing quickly, reduces the later in soap, and causes stains to clothe and landscape. Having a whole house water filter and water treatment system is a good investment not only for your home but for your health and wardrobe as well.

Convenience

Water treatment systems removes the stress of having individual point of use products. Having a different filter for the shower, the garden, the bath, the water pitcher, and so on can be quite exhausting. A water treatment system for the whole house, at the point of entry to your home is the best way to go.

Everyone understands the importance of having a quality water supply throughout the house. The risk of an unhealthy water supply is completely eliminated by having a whole house water treatment and filtration system.

Like this post? Share it!

Say Goodbye to Rust in Your Home’s Water

High concentration of certain minerals such as iron in your water is an indication of either a plumbing problem or an issue causing leakage of sediments from the pipes to the tap. Rust is a common term which refers to the presence of compounds such as iron and oxygen in water and it is usually formed when there is an exposure of free iron to water and oxygen in the air. There are different ways rust sediment can be eliminated. Two of the major water purification methods include the use of a water softener and water filter.

Water Softener

You may have tried different rust elimination options but still cannot get rid of rust stains on your sinks or shower. This is a common problem today and one that people battle with regularly. However, water softeners are just an ideal solution as they do not just reduce the rust stains from the water, they eliminate rust altogether.

An ion exchange water softener contains minerals such as sodium which combines chemically with iron to remove rust. When connected to your water supply, water softeners remove a wide variety of mineral compounds that make water “hard” and difficult to use. However, experts recommend that a water softener should only be used for drinking water with iron concentration below 2ppm.

Water Filtration

Water filtration for the elimination of rust is especially ideal if the iron concentration in your municipal water supply or well water is high. The best water filters are particularly designed to eliminate iron and any other contaminants such as manganese that often accompany it. Although water softening devices may be able to remove iron and even prevent staining, the resin bed can gradually become fouled with iron over time leading to decreased iron elimination efficiency. A better solution would be to install a water filter for iron elimination before water reaches the water softener. You could also install a special water filter to the main water supply line of your home if you prefer not to use a water softener.

Contact The Experts

It is best to avoid wasting money on trying out different iron elimination methods for water purification if you have any ongoing problems. It would be ideal to contact your local water filtration or water softener expert, so they can find the most suitable iron filter according to the water analysis of your home. Getting the right fit will save you costs in the long run as water purification systems that are too big or too small for your water contamination or water usage level will only cause energy wastage. With the best decisions for your home water, you can say goodbye to rust and welcome only clean, fresh water.

Like this post? Share it!

How Does Water Softener Work?

There are two types of water, hard and soft. Hard water is the most natural type of water that hasn’t been tainted by any chemical process. It becomes hard because before it reaches your taps at home, it seeps through the ground where it’s filtered by stones and mineral deposits containing all of the natural minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, etc. Drinking hard water is not harmful and could be a major contributor to cardiovascular disease mortality as well as that of calcium and magnesium to our diet.

Difficulties Of Cleaning With Hard Water

Hard water does, however, make cleaning task from laundering, dishwashing to bathing, and personal hygiene challenging. It makes soaps and detergents lose some effectiveness, and instead of lathering or dissolving completely, soaps tend to combine with the hard minerals to form a soapy mess.

This effect is evident because it leaves insoluble soap scum in your bathtub, washing basins, your shower, dishes, laundry machines, and roughens clothes too. Water softening is the process through which calcium and magnesium ions are eliminated from the water by using a mechanical appliance that is plumbed into your home’s water supply system.

Ion Exchange Method

There are different technologies including water filtration, and water purification methods that can be used to make hard water soft. Some water softeners use a process called ion exchange, which is the most popular and commonly used methods of removing the calcium and magnesium ions from water in your water to exchange it with two sodium ions.

The ion exchange system uses a mineral tank containing zeolite beads that carry a negative charge to attract and cling to the positive charge carried by calcium and magnesium ions. This means that these minerals will adhere to the beads as the hard water passes through the tank.

A very powerful solution of sodium ion is then flushed through a tank that has beads already soaked with calcium and magnesium so as to drive the calcium and magnesium ions off, the unit then enters a 3-phase regenerating cycle to produce soft water:

The backwash phase flashes out dirt from the tank
The sodium-rich salt solution replaces the calcium and magnesium in the recharge phase
The final phase flushes off the excess brine then refills the brine tank

This process is very effective, but it increases the salt content in the water, which might not be favorable to everyone.

Distillation is another water purification method of effectively softening and removing impurities for small quantities of water. It entails boiling the water to produce vapor, then condensing it back into pure water.

Where To Get Started

Before installing a water softener, use a water testing kit that measures hardness from 0-1000 ppm or 0-59 grains of hardness. Values of more than 1 GPG are usually considered to be hard water. Use a water softener that either has an automatic regenerating system that flushes and recharges the system on a regular basis or the type that uses a mechanical water meter to measure water usage and initiate recharging only when necessary.

Like this post? Share it!

The Benefits of Salt Free Water Softeners

People with fresh, high-quality water can be taken for granted in many parts of the world. In others however water can be full of minerals, contaminants, and be extremely hard. This can lead to nasty tasting water that is affected by high amounts of minerals in the water. One of the best solutions to hard water is to install a water treatment system in your home that can provide a softer, better tasting, higher quality water supply.

Treating Your Water At Home

Water softeners essentially work by adding other minerals to the water in order for the water to taste good. There are a number of ways this is done and one includes a salt process. Many people however, have concerns with adding extra salt to their bodies. Some people have diseases and conditions where they need to limit the amount of sodium in their bodies so a traditional water softener that uses salt to soften the water may not be ideal. Another alternative for treating the water in your home can come from a potassium water softener, water conditioning, or a water filtration/purification system.

People often consider water softeners and water conditioners as one of the same. A salt-free water softener can more accurately be called a water conditioner or de-scaler. A traditional water softener using salt, works by removing magnesium and calcium from the water and replacing it with sodium. Another option that works on the same principal is replacing the salt with potassium, also known as a saltless or salt-free water system.

Difference Between Water Softeners

A salt-free water filtration system doesn’t work exactly the same way as the salted one. Instead of removing hard water minerals, it keeps them from sticking to the pipes. This is a special process where the hard water minerals are crystallized, so that they can no longer stick to surfaces, which includes your pipes or your dishes.

The unsalted system also helps by reducing the buildup of limescale. This is that chalky substance you see on dried hard water spots and can be filled with other minerals or chemicals. While it’s not harmful, it can be unsightly and embarrassing if you are serving guests, or are a food-based business that must have 100% clean dishes.

The salt free water filtration system works by altering the chemical structure of the water minerals through a special descaling process. This helps to prevent solids from being deposited into your pipes and other water-using fixtures.

Talk With an Expert

A salt free water purification system is as effective as a salt-based system and it may suit your needs if your city’s water isn’t as hard as others. It is best to speak to a water filtration specialist to fulfill the needs of your home. When choosing salt-free water purification system it will also come with a filter. This helps to filter out the hard water minerals in your water, while providing water softener properties. For assistance in finding the best water softener or water purification system for your house, contact us today.

Like this post? Share it!