Improving the Quality of Your Water Supply Using a Water Softener

Water Softeners remove unhelpful mineral from your water supply and improve the quality of your drinking water

In many areas of the world water on tap is still an unheard of luxury. One is hardly surprised to hear that many villages in Africa, India do not have water reticulation but in many eastern European countries large number of the population live in houses which do not have pipes bring water into their homes or a drainage away. These people rely on water drawn from a well. And their "Privy" is likewise outside.

In the US however with our advanced civilization we take running water and water borne sewerage as a basic necessity of life. Certain farmsteads may be drawing water from wells of from the river but virtually all towns and cities lay on water for their town dwellers.

But all the water thus supplied has to come from somewhere. Much is drawn from rivers and then filtered and chlorinated to kill bacteria and algae before being fed into that metropolis' reticulation system.

Other water (In smaller towns for example) may have to be drawn from some ground water resources before undergoing a similar filtration and purification process. But whatever the source the objective is to provide the households with "potable" water. There are however large variations in water quality from city to city and town and village. Much depends on the water source and much else depends on the suspended particles in the water which is not removed by the filtration and water purification processes.

The trouble with these suspended particles and minerals is that, while they are deemed safe for drinking, they affect the usage. By far the most commonly found offender is calcium. This is particularly the case where the water is drawn from ground water sources where the ground water leeches calcium and other minerals from the earth as it flows in its aquifers.

If the water in your household is filled with calcium it is called "Hard". Hard water varies in its intensity and can be fairly mild with the kettles, shower nozzles and possibly the heating elements of your boiler and washing machines getting caked with a white hard deposit over a period. This calcium deposit is troublesome as it often comes off the kettle element and is visible in the water being poured out for coffee. In the shower nozzles it steadily causes the stream and flow to reduce.
Another common effect of very hard water is its inhibition of soap's ability to lather.

Most of the symptoms mentioned above can be eliminated by the relatively simple installation of a water softener. A whole house fleck water softener is a relatively simple installation and not one that will break your bank. It will also immensely improve the quality of your life. It is a high flow system which can cope with masses of water. And is self cleaning giving a double backwash and regeneration cycle as required.

In other areas where this is not indicated as Reverse Osmosis system is often recommended which too cleans the water by filtering out the minerals in suspension. For these there is a reverse osmosis replacement water filter which will have to be inserted from time to time.