HOW TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE HARD WATER AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
The Household Genie is here to help you recognize if you
have hard water and what steps are needed to resolve the hard water problem.
People generally live with one
of three of the following water systems:
City water, well water from a private well, or community well water.
If you live in or near a
well-developed city or town, the city or town chemically treats your water and
takes out the heavy metals that can cause your water to become hard. However, if you live out further than the
suburbs, chances are that you may have a well on your property or your town may
have a community well.
With city water there is no
need to test it for purity or hardness, because the city, town, or municipality
does it for you. But when you live in
rural areas or in areas that are just developing but cannot count on a city
water system, you may have a well on your lot. If you are in a rural area, but
in a developing community, you may not have a well on your property, but the
community has a well, where impurities are monitored and removed.
If your house has a well on its
property, you are responsible for checking the water periodically for
impurities. However, with both well
systems, you may have hard water!
Some signs that your house has
hard water are grayish streaks on your glassware and flatware after they are
washed in the dishwasher. Also, if water dries on your counter tops after using
the faucet and you notice that your granite, marble or other surface has a
grayish tinge to it, it may be the result of hard water staining.
A low amount of suds when you
use shampoo or wash a load of clothes,
and decreased lather while you use bar soap may also be signs of hard
water.
Taking off these stains
requires a lot of time, elbow grease, more cleaning products, and even sanding
with sandpaper! Not only does hard
water affect the look of your glasses and dishes and spoons, forks and knives,
it also affects your appliances! Hard water can decrease the life expectancy of
your expensive appliances, such as your washing machine, dishwasher, and even
your hot water tank!
When you reach the point of
getting tired of all the extra cleaning and looking at your grayish dishes and
flatware, and when you know you do not want your appliances to get coated
inside with all the residue from hard water, it is time then to get a water
softener!
Water softeners can make a
smile come back on your face after the struggle with all those hard water
problems! The best thing is to get three estimates from local water softening
companies. The prices vary depending on how much water you normally use and
your lifestyle. For instance, some water softeners do not run at night, so if
you have the lifestyle where no one in your family takes a shower after
midnight, or no one usually washes a load of clothes late at night, then you
are probably fine going with a less expensive model that includes one tank.
If however, your family uses
water during the night and takes showers sometimes in the early AM hours, or
you may through a load in the washing machine around midnight, then a dual tank
system will be better for you. A dual-tank system will handle softening your
water 24 hours a day!
My family and I live in a
semi-rural area where we have a community well. We had really hard water and
went through the “graying” of our items that I described above! Because we did
not want to worry about when we use our water, we opted for the dual-tank
system. We really enjoy the water softening system because we do not have to
think about when we want to take a shower or do laundry. Sometimes I am up late
and like to throw a load of laundry in the washer.
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