It’s easy to take good drinking and wash water for granted, but these things aren’t always readily available. Home owners in many parts of the nation must modify their water systems in order to live comfortably. Eighty nine per cent of homes in the U.S. have hard water, which is high in minerals, and can cause problems for bathing and washing clothes – if treated improperly it can also be unhealthy do drink. Hard water is especially common in arid regions, such as Arizona, Southern California, and Nevada. Many home owners take care of the issue with a sodium water softener, which employs remarkably simple technology in changing the chemical structure of water.

Water softeners use the principle of ion exchange to lower the mineral content in water and replace it with sodium or potassium. Most household water softeners include a tank filled with resin beads that exchange hard mineral ions for sodium ions. When hard water passes through and around the beads, mineral ions are absorbed and replaced with sodium ions. This makes the water softer and more palatable for household use. Water softening is also used frequently for industrial purposes.

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me asked:

I’m starting to look into water softeners for our apartment building. There are 8 units, all with 1 bathroom. I’m trying to figure out how much it would cost to get water softeners installed (we have terribly hard water here), and how much it would cost to maintain them.

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Hard Well Water asked:

We have really hard well water. I currently use a chemical water softener, but it changes the taste and adds potassium chloride to the water. I would like to find a non chemical solution. I have seen magnetic and frequency based water softeners, but have not seen any studies (other than by the mfg) that indicates that they work.

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Several years ago I moved into a new home located in a rural area that was not supplied by the nearest municipal water system. My source of fresh water was a drilled well. The water is of very good quality but is very hard water. I really did not fully understand the term “hard water” for several years but I have finally come to grips with issues related to hard water.

I have been using a water conditioning system produced by Culligan since I moved into my home. I thought it was a water softener. Everyone called it a water softener and that is what I called it. I got a little discouraged with the system performance and began considering a change. The Culligan system required the addition of peroxide to operate correctly and I was using nearly 10 gallons per month. My water was still showing some iron and system pressure was falling considerably.

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In most of the United States, there is hard water. Hard water is calcium-magnesium.

Hard water can and will destroy you water using appliances like your water heater, pipes, dishwasher, and washing machine. Hard water will also make your clothing look grey and faded out. Dry skin and dry hair is very common with hard water and can become quite itchy. You will also see hard water spots all over your dishware and glassware, which can be very annoying and bothersome.

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