Posts Tagged ‘Softener’

3 Critical Things to Consider Before Buying a Water Softener

3 Critical Things to Consider Before Buying a Water Softener

When considering which water softener to purchase there are some important factors to consider including some significant health issues. This is because water softeners actually use sodium to alter the water. As we all know, sodium is a major cause of increased blood pressure and other serious health problems.

Sodium is an essential mineral because it’s necessary for fluid and electrolyte balance in your body. However, consuming too much salt (also known as sodium chloride) may lead to high blood pressure, a condition called hypertension.

How Do Water Softeners Work:

Water softeners or whole house water treatment systems use a process called ion exchange to remove minerals from a water supply before it enters the home. This involves passing the water through a tank filled with resin beads that are coated with ions of either sodium or potassium chloride.

In simple terms, the sodium or potassium ions in the water softener swap places with the calcium or magnesium ions (which are the hard minerals that cause hard water stains and limescale) in a domestic water supply.

What To Consider Before Purchase:

• Firstly, sodium chloride is usually less expensive than potassium chloride although the latter is better for the environment. This is because the system has to have the brine solution discharged to recharge the ions on the resin beads.

• If the potassium solution is discharged it has less impact on the environment and can actually be put on lawns as potassium is a key plant nutrient!

• Contrary to a common misconception, using sodium salt in your water softener will not adversely affect your plumbing. Most modern plumbing is made of PVC plastic and is not affected by increased levels of either sodium or potassium chloride. Sodium salt can, however, reduce the amount of maintenance required for your brine tank.

• For those concerned about the health issues of how much sodium is put into the water by a water softener, the answer is, it all depends. The harder your water supply the more sodium ions are needed to soften it. That said, studies indicate that even water softened with sodium chloride has a low concentration of sodium.

• The costs of water softeners are usually far outweighed by the benefits and cost savings obtained, through using softened water.

Your local health department can tell you the sodium and other mineral content of your community’s water supply.

Options if Your Tap Water is High in Sodium:

• Consider switching to another type of water-purification system.

• Buy demineralized water for drinking and cooking.

• Softening only the hot water and using unsoftened cold water for drinking and cooking.

Ultimately the choice between sodium or potassium salts in your water softener is a personal one, depending on the presence of potential health issues with your water supply, cost, and environmental priorities.

Whichever one you decide on, the advantages of a water softener far outweigh the disadvantages. As well as all the above they can also be helpful in reducing cleaning time by preventing hard water stains and limescale forming around the home.

Say good bye to hard water with the saltless water softener

Say good bye to hard water with the saltless water softener

Article by Joan Baino

Hard water causes a lot of trouble in the household.  You might discover glass stains, clogged pipes and a yearly replacement of your dishwasher or washing machine which is of course annoying in every perspective.  This trend is usually caused by hard water which carries unwanted deposits making your water dangerous for use and human consumption.  There are solutions to this issue and that is to use a water softener.   As literal as it may seem, these devices make water soft, or in other words safer.  There are two types of water softeners.  One is the salt based which is the most common one to date and there is another one which is the saltless water softener which is gaining popularity as well.

Many people are using water softeners today especially in areas where hard water is prominent. The surfacing of saltless water softeners brought about apprehensions because this is a new form of softener out in the market.  People tend to be a little skeptical about this even if there are already plenty of saltless water softeners online and offline.  Water softeners using salt will have a long term adverse effect to humans and the environment.  We drink water everyday, we cook with water and we clean ourselves with water.  Even when it has been softened already but woth the presence of salt, it may harm us instead of keeping us safe.  Too much salt in the body is bad for our health.  Too much salt deposits in soils disposed by households through dirty softened water will kill the soils making it impossible for vegetation to grow.  The advers effects of salt are fierce.

Saltless water softeners do away with salt and use potassium chlorine which is safe for human intake and for the environment as well.  There are plenty of brands for saltless water softeners in the market today but one brand stands out among the rest which is the kinetico water softener.  This brand is a must have for those of you who still do not own a water softener.

The effects of hard water will be constant if ignored.  Buying water softeners will reduce the problem dramatically.  Choosing the right water softener is a must to produce a long term effect.

What is the difference between a WATER CONDITIONER and WATER SOFTENER?

What is the difference between a WATER CONDITIONER and WATER SOFTENER?

Article by Tai Pham

The purpose of this article is to clarify different terms which consumers come across when buying water treatment products. The terms Water Softening and Water Conditioning are used interchangeably in the industry and do cause some confusion.

First of all you should know what is Hard Water? Hard water is the most common problem found in the average home. Hard water is typically defined as water having more than 1 GPG (grains per gallon) of dissolved minerals in it, generally consisting of calcium, magnesium carbonate, and/or manganese.

Now you have to know why there is need to soften up water. Soft water greatly reduces the scaling of pipes, faucets, and bath fixtures, and reduces spotting of glasses, dishes and flatware. Soft water also helps detergent clean your clothes better, while making your clothes last longer too! You can reduce your laundry detergent, dishwashing soap, hand soap and shampoo to half what you would normally use, not to mention soft water is much more pleasant to wash with, leaving less soap scum on you, and your tub/shower.

Now let’s talk about how Water Softener works. A water softener is used to soften up “hard” water. As stated above, water is hard when it contains hard minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and ferrous iron ion. The softener operates using an “ion exchange” process. When hard water contacts the cation resin beads, by passing through the softener mineral tank which have soft sodium/potassium ions attached to them, an ion exchange process takes place with the hard mineral ions, (normally calcium and/or magnesium), and during this contact, simply trade places with the soft sodium/potassium ions. This reduces the “hardness ions” of the water exiting the softener making your water “soft”.

Water filters differ from softeners in that filters are made to remove suspended solids, chlorine, pesticides and some iron bacteria. A filter will not remove dissolved solids, such as the minerals responsible for hard water.

Water Conditioning is a slightly different process. It works in much the same way as water softeners. It helps soften up water but instead of exchanging ions, it changes the crystallization process of magnesium and calcium. Basically, the claim is that these units change the electric charge of the hard water mineral molecules that are dissolved in the water. By supposedly changing the electric charge of the molecules, this causes the hard water minerals not to “stick” to whatever it comes in contact with, such as pipes, water heating elements, bath fixtures and faucets. As these units do not remove any minerals that cause hard water stains and buildup, we can’t say about their effectiveness.

All in all, it is necessary that the customer should be aware of the differences and make the choice wisely knowing the process and all the facts.
About the Author

Isopure Water carries a wide variety of point of entry filter units ranging from Water softeners, carbon filtration, and iron removal filters as well as point of use drinking water systems for residential, commercial and industrial applications.