WATER SOFTENER SYSTEMS
A water softener will greatly improve your water if you have hard water minerals, iron or manganese present in your water. The main hard water minerals found are magnesium and calcium (the hardness minerals), while iron and manganese (“The stainers”) are also commonly found in Newburyport, MA water. These common contaminants found in Newburyport water can be removed with a water softener and/or a properly specified sediment filter depending on whether their forms are particulate or in solution. There are different types of water softeners, including up-flow versus down-flow which can make a big difference, particularly if there are elevated levels of iron or manganese in the water. Water testing can determine the best approach.
Water Softener & Sediment Filter
The following chart identifies hard water levels. Compare your test results:
Hard water interferes with almost every cleaning task, from doing the laundry to washing dishes to taking a shower. Clothes can look dingy and feel rough and scratchy. Dishes and glasses get spotted and a film may build up on shower doors, bathtubs, sinks and faucets. Washing your hair in hard water may leave it feeling sticky and dull. Hard water can also cause a residue to build-up in pipes that can lower water pressure throughout the house. Calcium and magnesium can have devastating affects on your home’s plumbing as well as your ability to clean, even though the EPA has no published limits on these. The EPA maximum allowable levels for iron as a secondary contaminant is .3 parts per million and for manganese is .05 parts per million as secondary contaminants. Small amounts of these minerals can have very noticeable, even devastating affects on your home’s water quality. For more on hard water, see hard water epa.
OTHER AFFECTS OF HARD WATER, IRON AND MANGANESE
Scale from hard water can build-up inside water heaters insulating the temperature sensor inside the tank creating extra work to bring the temperature up to the set level. This reduces the life of your hot water heater and will likely require early replacement. Some other affects of these contaminants include corrosion and scaling inside pipes and major staining throughout the home’s showers, bathtubs, and sinks. For those using their well water for outside lawn irrigation, iron and manganese can cause major staining of outside walkways, house siding and anyplace the water touches. See the link at https://h2ocare.com/lawn-irrigation/.
Damaging Scale
WHAT A WATER SOFTENER WILL CORRECT
A water softener is effective in removing dissolved forms of iron & manganese and hardness minerals. To remove particulate iron or manganese, a cartridge filter with proper micron rating will be effective. Depending on the specific situation, this could require a series of filters with different size micron ratings to handle heavier levels in the water. 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. For more information on Iron and Manganese in water, see our published articles in Water Technology Magazine at the following link: https://h2ocare/publications/.
