Services

Water Conditioning

It’s so easy to turn on our faucets and not think about the water coming out. Whether we’re in the shower or washing the dishes, as long as the water turns on when we need it to, we don’t necessarily consider if our water is hard water or not.

What is hard water?

Hard water is a very common problem in the United States, estimated to affect about 85% of homes and it is essentially water containing high mineral content. Water percolates through limestone or chalk deposits and affects the quality of your water. Some signs of hard water can include:

A film forms on your hands after washing them with soap, a reaction caused by the soap and calcium mixing
Spots appearing on silverware from the dishwasher
A reduction is water pressure
Calcification on your faucets and shower heads

What is water conditioning?

Water conditioning is very important to maintaining a potabile water supply, as it is the method of altering the characteristics of the water from the source. This includes eliminating any harmful minerals, chemicals, or other possible contaminants.

If the hardness of the water is left untreated, limescale will build up over time, causing issues in your water pipes, fixtures and water heater. Water conditioning will help to reduce other hardwater issues, such as clogged pipes, corrosion control, scaling reduction, household appliance lifespans, and can even result in lowering water bills! Hard water can also have negative effects on our health when we use it to drink, cook with, or clean.

Water conditioning is often also referred to as “water softening,” but there are some differences to keep in mind, mainly that the conditioner will alter the hard water minerals and reduce scale, whereas the softener uses salt to remove scale from calcium and magnesium in the regeneration cycle. This also helps to keep the hardness particles off your clothes and your skin.

And If you don’t have hard water but would like to remove the chlorine from your public water supply, we recommend a Whole House Carbon Filter – which we personally have in our home.

How does water conditioning work?

Water hardness is measured by GPG, or grains per gallon and there are several techniques to treat it. The characteristics of water can be altered by physical processes, like filtration or sedimentation, chemical processes, such as flocculation and chlorination, or even through electromagnetic radiation using ultraviolet light – specifically for bacteria related well water issues.

Altering the chemical structure of these harmful minerals found in hard water can reduce the deposits that stick to surfaces, including your faucets and pipes, as well as your water heater, where the water is left stagnant for extended periods of time.

Water conditioning can improve the taste and odor of your water, increasing the overall water quality, its potability, and the functionality of the water running through your fixtures and appliances in your home. County Line Plumbing will have an experienced plumber come to your home to collect a water sample, we analyze any containments and level of hardness of your water and then identify if a treatment system is necessary and what might best suit your water issues.

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