Water Treatment FAQs

You’ll see scale buildup on water heaters and plumbing fixtures. You’ll also find soap deposits on dishes and soap scum in your bathtub.

Water picks up gases and impurities as it goes through the water cycle. Some of these items (including calcium and gypsum) are known as hard minerals. When you have disproportionate amounts of these minerals, your water is deemed hard.

Soft water is water that is free of hard chemicals like iron and calcium. To take water from hard to soft, water softeners replace those unwanted chemicals with sodium or potassium. This results in less soap scum and a better resident experience.

The slickness you can feel is your natural body oils. Because it has a hard time removing residue from soap residue, hard water often leaves your body with a layer of fine soap scum. Eventually, you’ll get used to how your skin feels without that extra layer of chemicals on it.

While we recommend using solar or block salts, any type of clean salt can be utilized. Because the cleaners in rust-cleaning salt can damage equipment, we advise avoiding any brands that advertise themselves as a rust-buster.

There are about 75 mgs of salt in one quart of softened water; this is less sodium than what’s found in your typical slice of bread. If your diet is very strict, consider using a reverse osmosis system in place of a traditional water softener.

This is probably caused by an overabundance of iron in your water.

Black or brown stains in your dishwasher are often the result of manganese buildup. Because the dishwasher heats, mixes, and agitates, it makes a perfect oxidizer. If left untreated, an overabundance of manganese can stain your clothes.

If you notice a lot of bluish-green stains in your sink, your water might be acidic. This leads to it leaching metal from your piping and plumbing fixtures. When left untreated, this can lead to leaks in your copper piping.

Hydrogen sulfide build-up in your well or pipes is often to blame for this water problem. Though an abundance of sulfite isn’t a health hazard, it can leave an unpleasant taste in your water and corrode some pipes.

Nitrate is a naturally occurring substance that forms in the soil when oxygen and nitrogen combine. While perfectly fine in small amounts, an overabundance of nitrate can pollute groundwater.

Livestock waste, fertilizers, and septic run off are the most common causes of nitrogen in the soil.

For most people, there’s no harm in consuming small amounts of nitrate. But things are different for infants. Nitrate makes it harder for their blood to transport oxygen. This can lead to a dangerous condition known as “blue baby syndrome.” For that reason, pregnant women and young children should avoid consuming nitrate-laden water.

Water problems are split into two categories:

• Primary: Potentially dangerous things that can affect one’s health.
• Aesthetic: Things that alter the look, smell, or taste of water.

In most cases, testing strips are only looking for primary issues.

This cloudiness is often caused by tiny air bubbles in the water. It will dissipate if you let the water sit and poses no danger to your health.