Hard Water Solutions
THE DEFINITION OF HARD WATER
Water is considered “hard” when your Marblehead water contains higher levels of dissolved calcium and magnesium. It makes cleaning clothing more difficult and creates streaking on dishes and glasses. Additionally, it creates white scaling on faucets and shower heads and makes cleaning your hair and skin well a challenge. Hard water can also damage your home’s piping distribution system if not corrected. There are high efficiency solutions that will remove hard water minerals through the proven ion exchange water softening process.
Symptoms of water quality issues include bad odors & taste, staining of laundry, bathroom fixtures, etc. However, the preferred starting point is to test the water to identify and quantity of the minerals or contaminants.. This will lead to an effective system recommendation and route to providing your home with excellent water quality. Certain minerals & contaminants can be tested on-site (iron, hardness, pH, total dissolved solids, chlorine). Health threat items like radon or arsenic in water, nitrates should be brought to a certified laboratory for testing.
Hard Water Scale
WATER SOFTENER SYSTEMS
High Efficiency Water Softener
A water softener is a type of whole house water filtration system that is designed for removing hard water minerals (magnesium & calcium). Additionally, it will remove dissolved iron and manganese from the water. In following, for water with high levels of iron or manganese (“the stainers”), an “up-flow” water softener is recommended. This will prevent mineral build-up in the bottom of the water softener. Also, high efficiency water softeners that are more efficient with both water and salt usage are preferred. For more on how a water softener works, see https://www.popularmechanics.com.
BAD ODORS & TASTE 
In addition to the above systems described, there are many other types of systems to remove bad tastes & odors, sediment and other objectionable minerals and contaminants in the water. If you are experiencing a rotten egg smell in water, you likely have hydrogen sulfide in your well water or possibly a high level of manganese. A water test and analysis will lead to the best approach. For more information on bad odors & taste in your water, see the link at http://bad-odor-taste-water/.
