Hard water. A strange phrase, but one you hear more and more often regarding the water quality in homes. Hard water means water that has a higher than normal mineral content. The usual mineral culprits in hard water are magnesium and calcium. These minerals tend to enter the water supply through ground seepage into municipal pipes that carry fresh water to homes.
The big question: Is this a problem?
Yes, Hard Water Is a Serious Issue
The good news is that hard water isn’t harmful for people to drink. If your home has hard water, you may notice an unpleasant taste in the drinking water, but the naturally occurring minerals are ones that your body is accustomed to.
But where hard water is a problem is the plumbing and fixtures in your home. The minerals in hard water start to build up on the inside of pipes and along the faucets and other fixtures. If enough calcites form along the inside of pipes, they’ll create a rise in water pressure that can lead to leaks and make clogs more common.
Even worse is the damage that scale from the minerals can cause to your water heater. The temperature inside a water heater tank causes the minerals to leave the water and form deposits along the interior of the tank. These scale deposits insulate the tank, creating an imbalance in the temperature inside, leading to overheating and other problems.
Finally, hard water is a nuisance for keeping your house and the people in it clean. Hard water minerals make it harder to create soap lather and to remove soap from hair and skin. They will also leave unpleasant films across surfaces.
Fixing hard water isn’t difficult, however: just call our water treatment experts and arrange for the installation of a whole-house water softener.
Ken Neyer Plumbing, Inc. installs and services water softeners. Call us for service in Harrison, OH and throughout the Greater Cincinnati Area.