Solving hard water problems sine 1987
Why do I need a water softener?
Almost all of the water found in the United States is hard water. Hard water contains dissolved calcium and magnesium that can have a negative impact on you, your household, and your pocketbook.
Hard water produces scale
Scale deposits are a typical indicator of hard water.
Hardness is a common quality of water which contains dissolved compounds of calcium and magnesium and sometimes other divalent and trivalent metallic elements.
The term hardness was originally applied to water that was hard to wash in, referring to the soap wasting properties of hard water. Hardness prevents soap from lathering by causing the development of an insoluble curdy precipitate in the water; hardness typically causes the buildup of scale (such as seen in cooking pans). Dissolved calcium and magnesium salts are primarily responsible for most scaling in pipes and water heaters and cause numerous problems in laundry, kitchen, and bath. Hardness is usually expressed in grains per gallon (GPG), or parts per million (PPM), as calcium carbonate equivalent.
The degree of hardness standard as established by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (S-339) and the Water Quality Association (WQA) is:
Degree of Hardness | Grains per Gallon (gpg) | ppm (or mg/L) |
Soft | <1.0 | <17.0 |
Slightly Hard | 1.0-3.5 | 17.1-60 |
Moderately Hard | 3.5-7.0 | 60-120 |
Hard | 7.0-10.5 | 120-180 |
Very Hard | >10.5 | >180 |
Fort Bend and Wharton County’s hardness levels range from 7GPG on municipal water, up to 55GPG in some rural areas. The average well water we typically come across is 18GPG.
Symptoms include:
- Stiff, dingy laundry
- Mineral deposits on dishes and glassware
- High soap usage & need for fabric softeners
- Dry, itchy skin and scalp
- Unmanageable hair
- Extra work to remove soap curd on bathtubs & shower stalls
- High energy costs, possibly due to scale build-up in pipes and on appliances
- Scale build up in sinks, tubs, faucets & appliances
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