Why Should You Buy Saltless Water Softeners?

What exactly is hard water and what is all the fuss about softening hard water? You have come to the right place if you want to know more about hard water and how can you soften hard water.

Hard water is water that has a high mineral content, and it is these mineral ions which cause the water to exhibit hard properties. These hard mineral ions are actually calcium and magnesium ions, and they are drained into our water supply through the mineral rocks located at our water source.

Believe it or not, hard water do not cause any harm to our health when we consume it. However, if left untreated, the hard water will cause serious damages to our homes, and they are well known for clogging water pipes.

How does hard water clog pipes? When hard water enters our water pipes, its calcium and magnesium ions are reacting with the surface of the pipes, actively forming calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide compounds. These compounds will form a precipitate, commonly known as scale, which will be left behind on the surfaces when the water flows through the pipes. Over time, new layers of scale will keep building on top of the existing layers in the pipes and results in a massive amount of scale. These large mass of scale slows down the water flow in the pipes and reduces the water pressure drastically. This will cause the pipes to be clogged.

This scenario does not only affect water pipes but other water containing equipments as well, such as heaters and washing machines. These equipments also lose their function due to build up of scale.

Other than the formation of scales, hard water also forms scum when exposed to soap and detergent. This is another situation which causes a pain in our neck. Natural water lathers with soap and detergent to form froth which is a great element in removing dirt particles. However, hard water does not lather with soap and detergent, and forms scum instead of froth, which is a insoluble white precipitate that stains the bathroom equipments.

These stains are difficult to remove as they are not water soluble. Also, without the major dirt removing element, the cleaning efficiency of the soap and detergent is greatly reduced and we have to use more soap and detergent to get our desired cleaning effect, which could be up to fifty percent more than the normal amount.

After touching on how hard water can be a nuisance to our peaceful lives, there is a way to remove the hard water properties and make them user friendly again. The method is to use water softeners. There are two main types of equipments we can use to soften the water, and they are the salt based water softeners and the saltless water softeners.

Although both equipments softens hard water, they uses two totally different procedures. Salt based water softeners introduces sodium ions to the hard water to replace the hard calcium and magnesium ions. As the hard ions are substituted from the hard water, the water is softened and will not exhibit anymore hard properties. It will also not form the menacing scales anymore, and this is definitely music to our ears.

On the other hand, saltless water softeners function differently when it comes to softening hard water. Unlike the salt based softeners which cause the a chemical change in the water, the saltless softeners cause a change in the physical composition in the magnesium and calcium ions, creating a strong attractive force between the two ions. When they are attracted to each other, they will not form other compounds with other ions and this too softens the water.

When there is a difference in the softening process, the softened water will also exhibit different properties in each process. Water softened by salt based softeners feels different in terms of texture. They are slightly soapy in nature, and it leaves people with the unclean feeling every time they wash their hands or bodies with soap, which is similar to the feeling that they cannot completely rinse the soap off their hands or bodies.

Salt softened water also reacts better and produces more froth with soap and detergent due to their sodium ions. This increases the cleaning effects of soap and detergents. However, due to the sodium ions present in the water, you will need an addition reverse osmosis process to remove the sodium ions before you can consume the water.

There is also an increased awareness on the adverse effect of salt based water softeners causing massive salt pollution due to the gallons of brine solution that is being discharged to the seas everyday. Several government agencies have started to take actions against salt based softeners by banning them and issuing incentives for the residents to convert to saltless water softeners.

On the other hand, water softened by saltless water softeners feels more like natural water. That is because they do not add any chemicals to the water in the softening process, and the softened water feels silky and closely resemble the touch of natural water. It also leaves people with a squeaky clean feeling every time they bathe with the softened water. The water also does not need to undergo any extra reverse osmosis process before consumption as there is no added ions.

Overall, the salt based water softeners are starting to be replaced by the saltless water softeners due to its more advanced technology. The weakness of the salt based softeners are being exposed after dominating the softening industry for decades. Now is the time to adopt the newer saltless water softening technology to enjoy fresher water, and to save our planet too!