Understanding the Water Treatment Process
If you’re like most homeowners, you don’t like how your tap water tastes or smells, and you certainly don’t like the scale deposits that crust on your fixtures and gums-up your appliances. In this post, we look at options to make tap water healthier and better tasting and reduce the problems of limescale buildup.
What is Hard Water?
Before getting into the various treatment options, let’s look at what causes that nasty scale buildup on your fixtures and in your appliances; it’s called hard water.
Hard water is characterized by a high mineral content, typically calcium and magnesium. While hard water is generally safe to drink, and some people prefer it, it can lead to several problems, including:
Scale Buildup
Mineral deposits can accumulate in pipes, appliances, and fixtures, reducing their efficiency, causing clogs, and shortening their lifespans.
Soap Scum
Hard water reacts with soap to form a sticky residue that you can see on glass shower doors and dinnerware. Soap scum is unsightly and embarrassing, and is difficult to clean.
Poor Soap Performance
Speaking of soap, the high mineral content in hard water reduces lathering, which can leave skin itchy and irritated and clothes stiff and dull.
Other Water Problems
Most Americans are lucky because their tap water is relatively safe to drink. The Centers For Disease Control says, “The United States has one of the safest and most reliable drinking water systems in the world.”
The reason most tap water is safe is that municipal suppliers must adhere to strict standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Moreover, public water suppliers must provide regular test results to their customers, telling them what is in their drinking water.
However, tap water sometimes becomes contaminated through naturally occurring chemicals, like arsenic and uranium, or malfunctions at the water treatment facility.
If you want to be certain your tap water is safe, and you want to eliminate the effects of hard water, there are water treatment options available.
Water Softeners
Water softeners are the most effective way to eliminate hard water. These devices use an ion exchange process to replace the calcium and magnesium ions with sodium or potassium ions. Here’s how they work.
Water softeners contain a resin tank filled with ion exchange beads. As hard water flows through the tank, the beads attract and capture calcium and magnesium ions and put sodium or potassium ions in their place. The result is “soft” water that won’t muck up your appliances or leave behind a scummy residue.
Filtration Systems
If you’re more interested in your tap water being safe to drink, a filtration system is the way to go. Filtration systems remove contaminants and impurities from the tap water, ensuring it’s safe and eliminating the unpleasant taste and odor. There are several types of filtration systems to choose from.
Whole-House Filtration
A whole-house filtration system is installed at the point where water comes into the home, ensuring that you have treated water throughout the house. These systems can remove sediment, chlorine, and other common impurities.
Reverse Osmosis
Reverse osmosis (RO) filters use a semipermeable membrane to remove a wide range of contaminants, including heavy metals, chemicals, and microorganisms that can make you sick. These systems are the best for purifying drinking water.
Carbon Filtration
Most countertop filters use activated carbon to remove chlorine, which is responsible for the bad odor and taste people associate with tap water. However, you can get water filtration systems with a carbon stage as a whole-home treatment option.
UV Purifiers
Finally, Ultraviolet (UV) purifiers use ultraviolet light to disinfect water and kill bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms. UV purifiers are ideal for homeowners using well water to ensure it’s safe.
Call Tri-Florida Water Treatment
If you want safe, great-tasting tap water and want to get off the plastic bottled water train, call us. We’re a family-owned, locally operated business with a long-standing reputation for providing customers throughout Polk County with high-quality, reliable home water treatment solutions.
We have over 30 years of experience and take pride in providing outstanding customer service at fair prices.
Call us today for a free in-home water analysis at 863–965–1439, or fill out our online form to book an appointment.