Disadvantages of Hard Water
Before knowing what a water softener is, let’s get to know what hard water is and how it effects people in their daily lives. Hard water is known to carry, in it, more minerals than normal water. These minerals specifically being calcium and magnesium that are of high concentration in hard water. The higher the concentration of these minerals, the harder the water is considered to be. Due to high concentrations of calcium and magnesium, it becomes harder for other minerals to dissolve in this water. Both these minerals are positively charged ions and so other minerals that are positively charged will find it more difficult to dissolve in this water.
Hard water isn’t usually a huge health issue but it can cause a lot of problems, as it has a tendency to cause a buildup of minerals, specifically lime scale deposits, in water pipes and heating systems and clog them, this reduces their efficiency and the maintenance and cost of these pipes becomes an inconvenience. Secondly, it also makes detergent difficult to dissolve into the water and hence, making activities like washing dishes, doing laundry, or any activity related with cleaning, more complicated.
Water softening can be defined as removal of the minerals or the ions in water that cause it to become hard water. Softening of water is going to increase the life span and reduce maintenance and maintenance costs of water pipes and all the water-based machinery including, washing machines, heating systems etc. Water softeners remove the ‘hardness minerals’, specifically Calcium and Magnesium, they are sometimes also used to remove Iron from water. The most effective way to soften water is to find the best water softener system that you can find, they can be automatic, semi-automatic and even manual systems, and each system is based on the amount of hardness it can remove from water.