Softening Water in Franklin, IN
Even though Franklin, IN is a well-developed area, there is still the possibility of homes in the area struggling with a hard water problem. Thankfully, Summers Plumbing Heating & Cooling has been serving Franklin and the surrounding area for over fifty years, providing a range of services including the installation of whole-home water softeners to combat the challenges created by hard water.
Whether you’re moving to a new home in the area or have never had your home water quality tested, giving Summers Plumbing Heating & Cooling a call to evaluate an existing system or install a new one is a great investment in your home.
What Is Hard Water?
Water that contains higher-than-average amounts of dissolved minerals, especially calcium and magnesium, is referred to as hard water. Hard water is a common issue, even in homes that get their water from a treated municipal water supply.
While not necessarily dangerous to your health, hard water is the root of a few issues that most homeowners are concerned about. It tends to leave a filmy residue on surfaces, leading to cloudy shower doors and less-than-clear drinking glasses. Because of the way that the calcium in hard water reacts to soap, it takes more soap and detergent to get everything from your dishes to your hair clean. Calcium carbonate deposits can form when hard water is heated, which can lead to build-ups. Build-ups of these deposits can reduce the life of major appliances, clog pipes, and make appliances like water heaters less efficient.
How Does a Water Softener Work?
Water softeners work by conducting ion exchanges with hard water. The water flows through a tank of beads made of resin charged with sodium ions. Calcium and magnesium dissolved in the water have the opposite charge from the beads, leading the ions of the minerals to be attracted to the beads. Once a calcium or magnesium ion bonds with a bead, a sodium ion detaches and joins the water.
These sodium ions react differently with soaps and detergents and don’t live behind the residue that calcium does, so water that has been treated this way won’t cause the negative effects that untreated hard water does.
What Benefits Do Water Softeners Have?
It’s amazing the variety of issues hard water can cause, so the advantages of treating it with a water softener are far-reaching.
Drinking-Water
Minerals in tap water can give it an unappealing smell and taste. Oftentimes, untreated hard water will give off a rotten egg smell. It will also cause drinkware to become cloudy over time as it leaves more and more residue with each use. While these minerals aren’t necessarily bad for you to consume, using a water softener will improve the taste, smell, and appearance of your drinking water.
Laundry
As clothes run through a washing machine using hard water, the minerals can bind to the fabric, hardening clothes and occasionally discoloring them. Laundry detergents don’t work properly in hard water, meaning it takes more detergent to get clothes clean. Softened water is rid of clothes-damaging minerals and can help you save money since you can lose less detergent.
Hair and Skin
If your skin feels dry or you feel like you can never quite rinse all the soap off your hands, hard water might be to blame. Hard water can also harm hair, making it coarse and brittle as well as weighing it down. Using a water softener can help alleviate these problems, helping you to look and feel your best.
Appliances and Plumbing
The mineral deposits that form in hard water when it’s heated can cause issues throughout your home. Deposits can build up inside pipes, creating issues with water pressure and leading to costly pipe repairs and replacements over time. These deposits can also affect the performance of appliances like dishwashers, clothes washers, and coffee machines. Soft water keeps deposits from being created and prevents damage to your plumbing and appliances.
What Maintenance Do Water Softeners Need?
For all the benefits they provide, water softeners don’t require a lot of upkeep on the part of homeowners. The only significant maintenance homeowners have to perform is occasionally adding salt to a tank attached to the softener to replenish its sodium supply.
Where Can You Get Water Softener Services?
Summers Plumbing Heating & Cooling provides full water softener services to Franklin, IN, and the surrounding communities. We can install a new system, teach you how to care for it, and perform repairs and maintenance on existing systems. If you’re ready to solve your hard water problem, our experienced technicians are ready to help!
