Water Softener for Hard Water
WATER SOFTENER EFFECTIVENESS
A water softener is effective in removing some of the most common contaminants found in private wells or town water supplying homes in Plainville. The main contaminants are iron & manganese as well as the hard water minerals magnesium and calcium. Small amounts of these minerals can have large affects on your home’s water quality. The EPA maximum allowable level for iron as a secondary contaminant is .3 parts per million and for manganese is .05 parts per million. As you can see, these are very small amounts, but their affects can create quite an impact.
High Efficiency Water Softener
A water softener will remove dissolved forms of iron & manganese and hard water minerals. To remove particulate iron or manganese, a cartridge filter with proper micron rating will be effective. Selecting the appropriate micron rating and style of filter can be determined by a water treatment professional based on water test results and other symptoms.
Compare your test results to this chart:
OTHER AFFECTS OF IRON, MANGANESE & HARD WATER
Hard water affects include corrosion and scaling inside pipes, as well as major staining throughout the home’s showers, bathtubs, and sinks. Hard water is also notorious for destroying hot water heaters way ahead of their useful life (scale build-up inside hot water heaters can insulate the temperature sensor inside the tank causing them to work much harder to bring the temperature up to the set level). Iron and manganese can create orange, rusty or black/brown staining and corrosion in the home as well. For more on hard water, see hard water usgs.
Damaging Scale
Having a water test performed is an important first step in the process of improving your water quality. For more on water testing, see the link at http://water-testing/.
