If you live in a home that uses hard water you may or may not know the disadvantages of it. However, that is a different topic and this blog focuses on the benefits of having a soft water home since hard water is harmful to your home. This could be a sign for you to install a water softener.
A water softener treats hard water by removing the minerals through a process called ion exchange. Mineral ions that cause hardness and damage to your home are trapped by resin within the system and exchanged for sodium and potassium ions.
Thinking about making the change here are five benefits of having a water softener in your home:
1. Saves Money
Soft water lacks the mineral ions that cause buildup in your pipes and appliances, saving you from costly repair bills. Read below a few ways how hard water cost you more money and by installing a water softener can avoid these unnecessary expenses…
Plumbing: As minerals in hard water travel through your pipes they stick, forming a scale buildup that will eventually clog the pipes. This can cause irreversible damage to plumbing, meaning a costly and time-consuming repair job.
Appliances: Not only does scale buildup lower the quality and efficiency due to hard water composition but the scale inside the appliance results in a shorter lifespan.
Gas or electric bills: A water softener can lower your gas or electric bill. When scale builds inside a pipe, the space available for water to pass through narrows. As a result, the water pressure must increase for water to push through. The pipe narrowing also causes a failure to efficiently transfer heat, forcing you to run your water heater higher to compensate.
Soap and detergents: Soft water penetrates and dissolves better with soap, meaning more suds and a deeper lather for your body, clothes, and dishes.
2. Cleaner hair and softer skin
Soft water can be extremely beneficial for your hair and skin while bathing or showering. The mineral ions in hard water prevent it from being completely soluble with soaps because soft water lacks these minerals, homes with a water softener enjoy a deeper lather. The benefits of a water softener on the skin go deeper than soap lather. It can also alleviate hard water’s effects on your body because of a loss of natural oils in your skin and hair.
Soft water contains fewer minerals, leaving your skin to pick up and hold moisture easier. At the same time, bathing or showering in hard water can have an adverse effect on your skin. The minerals in hard water remove the skin’s natural oils, which can dry out your skin and, for some, result in itchy, irritated skin.
Soft water can help balance your hair’s pH level, while hard water can cause your hair to feel dry, brittle, and frizzy. It can also dull your hair colour. Not to mention as scale buildup from hard water in your pipes increases, the water pressure from your shower decreases
3. Brighter and softer clothes
A water softener prevents the adverse effects of hard water on your clothes while making them soft to the touch and preserving the new, fresh look and feel. If your home has hard water, you’re washing clothes in minerals that leave deposits. Over time, the minerals will cause the colours to fade. Some minerals can even cause stains or dingy whites. Soft water is the better option.
Soft water dissolves into clothes easier, cleaning the clothes more effectively. With hard water, your clothes are washed in minerals that leave deposits in the fabric. Soft water dissolves detergent more effectively, you can use less detergent and may not need fabric softeners at all.
4. Cleaner Dishes
If you live in a hard water area, you know how difficult it is to keep your dishes clean. No matter how many times you clean them, or the soaps you use, your glass and silverware are left with a cloudy appearance. A water softener fixes the problem at the root, removing the minerals before they can build up on your dishes and because soft water fuses with soaps and detergent more completely, there is more lather and more cleaning action in your dishwashing routine.
5. Less time cleaning
Following that last point, you know how time-consuming cleaning can be in a hard water home with constant re-washing of dishes and laundry. You may spend hours each week scrubbing chalky lime and soap scum off the walls of your showers, sinks, and faucets. Using a water softener not only prevents the negative effects of hard water, but soft water fully dissolves and penetrates soap, leading to less insoluble soap scum in your bathroom. Saving the time you spend cleaning on a regular basis and on cleaning products.
If you need to give your home a quick energy saving MOT or require any services to help you, get in touch today
