Have Hard Water? Here’s What You Can Do About It!

Hard water is not much fun. It adds to heating costs, increases usage of soap  and detergents, leaves ugly stains on new surfaces and causes equipment to  breakdown.

All rain is essentially soft as it falls. On its way through the sky the rain  picks up carbon dioxide forming a very weak acid. Water is a fantastic solvent  and will pick up and dissolve impurities along it way. Weak carbonic acid, which  is what rainwater essentially is, is an even greater solvent and so will pick up  all sorts of stuff on its travels to the water table.

As rain comes into contact with surface rocks containing calcium it quickly picks up calcium ions. It is these ions that are the cause of hard water. As  water evaporates from surfaces it leaves small calcium carbonate deposits  behind.

Hard water is perfectly safe and has no harmful effects on the human body. It  can be very troublesome however and its effects can be seen everywhere. It also  means that larger quantities of soap and cleaning materials are needed for  normal use.

Hard water can be treated in a number of different ways. A simple jug water filter can remove impurities for drinking purposes and will also reduce scale  building up inside a kettle or coffee pot.

In business, vending machines, espresso machines and water fountains can be  protected by commercial water filters. These are fitted between the water inlet  and the equipment and will treat the water for a period of up to six months  dependent on the water volume used.

Calcium treatment units can be fitted to commercial equipment that use larger  volumes of water that is used for food preparation and beverages. They remove  the calcium ions and impurities. Again they will need to be recharged every few  months.

A salt based water softener is often the easiest way to remove water hardness  in a private residence. By using a special resin, the calcium ions are exchanged  with ions of sodium. The resultant water is very soft meaning washing machines,  dish washers and boilers are protected from scale build up. In addition of  course much less detergent will be needed to form lather. It is best to avoid  drinking water softened in this way which is why typically the softener is  installed in series after the main cold tap in the kitchen.

Larger commercial units are used in hotel laundry rooms and catering  kitchens.

Reverse osmosis is an alternative method of treating hard water and the  results are very pure. This method is usually employed on commercial premises  where the need for ultra-pure water is paramount.

There are so many ways to remove water hardness, it is surprising people  still put up with it!

Author:
F. Wayne