When living with or using a communal or public water supply, there is little that you can do to affect the overall quality of the water. It can come in hard, it can come into your home with strange smells and so on. Though the water has been cleaned and is safe to use, it may not be optimal. Water softeners are a great way to make the water you get pumped into your home easier and more comfortable to use.
What Is Hard Water?
Hard water is water that has an overabundance of minerals like lime, calcium and more. This means that the water is more than likely coming from a water source where it runs over rocks, like an underground spring. While this is not necessarily dangerous, it does cause some issues. Hard water can cause build-up in pipes, it can clog faucet and showerheads, and it can dry out skin and hair. Water softeners are an easy and fast way to combat that.
So, what does a water softener do? A water softener, put simply, softens the water or removes the minerals that are in overabundance in the water. It is a filtration system that helps to balance the chemical makeup of the water and removes the excess minerals, leaving you with water that is softer and that does not contain all those extras that might be causing dry skin and build-up in your pipes.
Water Softener Benefits
The first and most obvious benefit is going to be that water you are using is not going to have all those extra minerals in it that cause things like scalp build-up in the hair, dry hair and dry skin. This means that the shower water you are using is going to be safer and better for you and your skin overall. Another benefit is that the water is being softened and cleaned before it makes it to the pipes and faucets in your home.
This means that it is not going to cause unsightly build-up on your showerheads and faucets. This is going to save you money by making sure your pipes are not blocked, that they are not corroding and that they are working the way they should. Water that has been extra filtered also tastes better, so water that has been softened may taste better than the water with the extra minerals.
Though your local water treatment plant does all it can to make sure that water is safe for you to drink and use, things like calcium and lime are not harmful to the body in small amounts. That is why water that contains more of these minerals is not going to raise a red flag with the water company and why it is allowed to make it into your home. Water is essential, water is life, and making sure the water you are using is up to par is a must.