Hard water is one of those things that many homeowners deal with without realizing they have it. Unfortunately, hard water can wreak havoc on your home and your appliances. In this discussion, we’re going to go over what it is and what you can do to prevent experiencing these unfortunate issues.
What Is Hard Water?
Technically, hard water is water that has a high concentration of minerals. These minerals are commonly calcium and magnesium. The more minerals your water has, the higher it’s rated on the hardness scale. In general, when your water has 61 or more mg/L (milligrams per liter) of calcium carbonate, it’s considered to be hard. Hard water is the result of water percolating through deposits of limescale, gypsum, or chalk. It’s estimated that over three-quarters of the entire U.S. population has hard water to some degree.
Top Signs You Have Hard Water
Determining if you have hard water in your home is fairly easy if you pay attention to the main signs of it. One of the most obvious indications you’ll experience when you have hard water at your home is limescale buildup. This is a white film that will build up on your plumbing fixtures and sinks over time. This limescale is created by water drying out and the magnesium and calcium in the water remaining behind as a white film.
Another way to determine if you have hard water in your home is to do a water test. You can do this yourself or have a professional do a more thorough evaluation for you. They’ll be able to test for what contaminants are in your water and at what concentration levels.
1. Corroding Pipes
One of the most significant ways that hard water can damage your home is through pipe corrosion. Minerals tend to eat away at piping materials like copper or even galvanized steel. Over time, the internal corrosion of your pipes can get so bad that it restricts water flow through them. You may experience low water pressure issues. You may also experience a discoloration of your water as the internal rust of your pipes starts to come out. Hard water is known to significantly reduce the life span of household piping materials.
2. Causing Water Heater Inefficiency
Another way that hard water can potentially affect your home is by making your water heater less efficient. Hard water is much more challenging to heat than soft water. Your water heater will have to exert more energy to heat up hard water and maintain the temperature. Furthermore, hard water can also affect the internal components of your water heater. Just as hard water can cause corrosion inside your piping, it can do the very same thing inside your water heater tank. As the corrosion starts to get bad, your water heater may start to leak at its bottom or it could allow rust flakes to enter your hot water.
3. Damaging Plumbing Fixtures
Another way that hard water can affect your plumbing system is through your plumbing fixtures. As minerals start to build up inside your fixtures, they can cause deterioration of their internal components. For example, you’ll notice that the O-rings and the cartridges for many faucets will wear out relatively quickly when you have hard water in your home.
Furthermore, just like as with your piping, a buildup of minerals inside of your plumbing fixtures can restrict the water pressure of the fixture. Eventually, you’ll notice that your faucet or shower just isn’t producing enough pressure as it once did. You’ll need to replace your fixtures more often when you have hard water in your home than if you had soft water.
4. Shortening the Life of Appliances
The damage that hard water can cause doesn’t stop at just your plumbing system. It can also be extremely damaging to any of your appliances that use water to function. Appliances like your dishwasher or clothes washer will experience a buildup of minerals. This can deteriorate the internals of the appliance and greatly reduce its overall life span. Over time, as its piping and other materials continue to build up mineral deposits, you’ll notice that your appliance is less effective at doing its job.
5. Wearing Out Clothes and Linens
One lesser-known way that hard water can affect your home is through your belongings. Any of your clothing or linens that you wash in hard water are going to have a shorter life span. This is because the minerals create a film over the material that makes it much more challenging for soaps and laundry detergents to penetrate. You’ll notice that stains are very challenging to get out and your clothes seem to feel stiff instead of soft. Unfortunately, hard water could have you replacing your clothes and linens more often than necessary.
Other Effects of Hard Water
Apart from damaging components of your home, hard water can have a lot of other effects as well. It can cause you to use more laundry detergent and soaps to clean your items than would be necessary with soft water. Plus, you’ll have to regularly remove the limescale from your fixtures to keep them looking clean.
Hard water can also be very damaging to your skin and hair. Your hair will be more likely to dry out and frizz, and your skin will be more likely to be dry and rough. You’ll notice that your dishes and glasses are much harder to clean when you’re using hard water as opposed to using soft water.
How to Deal With Hard Water
By far, the absolute best way to deal with hard water in your home is to install a water softener system. This system is specifically designed to remove excess mineral and calcium deposits from your water supply. A water softener will be installed as close to your main water supply shut-off as possible. This will allow it to treat all the incoming water to your home before it ends up at your appliances and plumbing fixtures.
Investing in a water softener system is a great choice for any homeowner currently dealing with hard water. When you install it, the system will help to extend the overall longevity of your plumbing, including your piping, fixtures, and even appliances. You can also enjoy a lower energy bill for your water heater since it will operate more effectively.
Your skin and hair will feel smoother and healthier. You won’t have to worry about constantly cleaning limescale buildup off all your fixtures. You’ll spend less money on detergents and soaps throughout the year. You’ll even notice that it’s going to be much easier to clean your dishes, and your clothes will feel much softer after laundering.
Expert Plumbing Repair Service
Loyalty Plumbing offers expert plumbing repair service for the Las Vegas, NV area. We can also help with all your drain, sewer, water heater, water filtration, leak detection, toilet, faucet, gas line, repiping, plumbing maintenance, and plumbing installation needs. Call us today to book a service call with one of our plumbing experts.
