Water Softener Solutions
Hard water contaminants found in Topsfield water can be effectively removed with a water softener. The main hard water minerals are magnesium and calcium, while iron and manganese are also commonly found . Water softening will be very effective in removing these contaminants from your water if properly specified, installed and maintained.
High Efficiency Water Softener
WATER SOFTENER CONSIDERATIONS
While the EPA has no maximum levels set for calcium and magnesium, these hard water minerals can have devastating affects on your home’s plumbing as well as your ability to clean. 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. Finally, hard water can cause a residue to build-up in pipes that can lower water pressure throughout the house. The EPA maximum allowable levels for iron as a secondary contaminant is .3 parts per million. The EPA maximum allowable level for manganese as a secondary contaminants is .05 parts per million. Small amounts of these minerals can have very noticeable affects on your home’s water quality.
The following chart categorizes hard water. Compare your water test results to this:
OTHER AFFECTS OF IRON, MANGANESE AND HARD WATER
Some of the affects of these contaminants include corrosion and scaling inside pipes, major staining throughout the home’s showers, bathtubs, and sinks and destruction of hot water heaters way ahead of their useful life. Without water softening, hard water scale can also build-up inside hot water heaters insulating the temperature sensor inside the tank causing them to work much harder to bring the temperature up to the set level. This will reduce the useful life of your hot water heater and require early replacement.
Damaging Scale
WHAT WILL A WATER SOFTENER REMOVE?
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 on hard water, see the link at hard water usgs. For more information on Iron and Manganese in water, see our published articles in Water Technology Magazine at the following link: https://h2ocare.com/publ/.
Dissolved Iron Staining
H2O Care is an established full service water filtration and testing organization, originally formed in 1989, with offices in Middleton, MA off route 114, Stow & Lakeville, MA.. See our published articles in Water Technology Magazines at http://h2ocare.com/pub. Reach us at [email protected] or 978-777-8330.
