The Basics of Choosing the Right Water Softener For Your Home and Family

Water softeners take bathing to an all new level, especially after accepting and coming accustomed to hard water showers. If you are ready to bathe in silky smooth water, if you are excited for clear uncolored, smell free water, and if you are anxious to stop cleaning with harsh rust removers, we might just have the perfection solution for you.

Choosing a water softener, often misspelled as “water softner”, we can help with options ranging from traditional household water softeners, salt-free water softeners, dual- tank softeners and combinations that include reverse osmosis, whole house filters, arsenic removal and more.

Issues With Hard Water

Water softeners solve the problem of hard water. When your homes water is filled with extra minerals such as calcium, magnesium carbonate or manganese it is considered hard. Some homeowners note that soap doesn’t lather correctly, their dishes are spotted, sinks and tubs have rings, bright colored laundry looks dingy, skin feels rough, and other annoying side effects. An analysis of your homes water is the only way to truly “diagnosis” your homes water and determine if a water softener is truly the right solution. These extra minerals don’t normally pose a risk to your overall health however, not treating hard water can cause issues with your homes plumbing, water heating system, appliances, and such. In research done by the U.S. Geological Survey over eighty five percent of American homes have problems with hard water in their homes.

As previously mentioned, one way to get rid of hard water is to install a water softener. The water from your home is not considered hard unless it contains more than 1 GPG of dissolved hard materials however, water with up to 3.5 GPG is considered soft. Noticeably hard water contains upward of 3.5 GPG with 10.5 GPG being considered extremely hard. Anything between the two extremes is considered moderately hard and should be properly treated.

Damage To Home From Hard Water

Hard water is more annoying and expense than a risk to the health of you and your family. In fact, many issues that are created because of a home’s hard water supply stay hidden until an actual malfunction in the plumbing or your appliances bring it to light. Scale can cake on to the inside of your plumbing, water heaters, and appliances causing major issues for you. This on top of the issues that are general nuisances in the everyday running of your household.

One of the most common fixes for hard water is the installation of a water softener. There are a variety of water softeners that people can install in their homes or businesses to improve the quality of your water. The most common whole-house water softener that is installed is known as a salt ion-exchange water softener. Salt ion-exchange water softeners have two tanks. One of the tanks is filled with brine and the other special resin beads. The water becomes soft by exchanging salt ion for hard minerals.

Another option is a salt-free water softener that operates in a similar manner as a salt ion-exchange water softener however uses potassium-chloride instead of softener salt. Hard minerals are not reduced but instead prevent the minerals from being deposited as scale to plumbing and such.

Dual-tank water softeners are yet another option. Unlike typical water softeners that disconnect from the water system when recharging making them basically out of commission during the process, dual water tanks always have on tank in use while the other regenerates. Thus, no downtime in water usage. For most families the water softening rejuvenation process in common water softeners takes place at night when water is most often not in use, for big families or families with varying schedules a dual water softener can be a better fit.

The Right Size Water Softener

Water softeners come in a variety of different sizes, the size of the softener you need for your household will depend on the size of your home and the number of people using water in your household. It is important that when purchasing a new water softener, you select one that is the right size to handle the demands of your home and family. Remember the physical size of the unit is not particularly important, it is the systems ability to remove minerals from the water at a pace that keeps up with your needs. This can be determined when the water from your home is analyzed.

Along with choosing the right size water softener for your home it is important to choose a softener with features and controls that are necessary. It is important for homeowners to know what controls the regeneration cycle, how long each regeneration cycle takes, as well as the amount of water and salt needed for recharging. Softeners use two different control options: automatic timing and demand-initiated regeneration no matter what option is on your softener, the salt needs to be monitored on a regular basis to prevent running low.

The professionals at Reynolds Water Conditioning can help you select and install the best option in water softener for your family.

The experts at Reynolds Water Conditioning have a solution to your homes unique water quality needs including: arsenic, bacteria, chlorine, rotten egg smell, fluoride, hard water, iron, lead, acid, tannins, radon, and more. More information on our water treatment solutions including water softeners and conditioners, water filtration and purification, reverse osmosis drinking water, and iron & odor removal can be found online at https://reynoldswater.com.

September 7, 2018

Tap Water: Is the Water in My Home Safe to Drink?

All you want to do on a really hot day or after a long, hard workout is to go over to your kitchen sink and fill an extremely large glass with cold tap water! However, is the water that is coming out of your tap safe to drink?

While tap water in the United States is safer to drink than some of the tap water found in other parts of the world, it can still be full of contaminants like minerals and chlorine. Small amounts of minerals won’t do too much harm to your health and you won’t even know that they are there, but you may be able to taste and smell the chlorine that is present if you have public water. Of course, well water won’t have any chlorine in it, but it can be full of calcium, magnesium, and other minerals.

Installing a Water Conditioner

To improve your tap water, and make it better for you, as well as better tasting, you may want to consider installing one of the numerous water conditioners that are available. Most water conditioners utilize sodium ions to replace the calcium and magnesium ions in the water. The sodium ions will make the water softer, which will make it taste better and it will even help keep your pipes and fixtures in working order for much longer. The water conditioners will also remove other minerals from your water.

How Much Salt Consumption?

You may be concerned about how much sodium you will be ingesting with each glass of water that you drink after it has been through your water conditioning system. Well, to ease your fears a little, let us tell you that a normal glass of water normally contains very little sodium. Now, this number does rise to twelve and a half milligrams for the same glass of water after it has gone through the water conditioning process, but that is still considered very low sodium content.

That means that the only reason why you may want to reconsider drinking the water out of your tap after it has gone through a water conditioner, is if you are required to keep a very low sodium diet. While the number is quite low for sodium content, it could be enough to make you go over your daily limits too easily. A quick fix to that is to try to consume as little sodium as possible in everything else that you eat and drink.

Having Your Water Tested

If you have been wondering if your tap water is safe to drink, you may want to consider having it tested to see what is in the water. You may be surprised to find out that the water that you have been drinking all these years is as safe as you thought it was, or you may find that you should have installed a water conditioning system long ago to make your water safer than it is.

At Reynolds Water Conditioning Company, we are here to help make sure our clients don’t buy water treatment systems that they don’t need. We are here to make sure you find a water softening system that gives you the results you are looking for, whether it is to remove iron or odor from you water; we have a solution that will help! For more information contact our experts at 800.572.9575 or at our website https://reynoldswater.com.

August 27, 2018

How Do Water Softeners and Conditioners Really Work?

Do you notice a build-up of scum in your shower or dishwasher? Is your home’s shower not supplying you with water that feels “right” as you rinse off the day? If you are encountering issues or experiencing a change in your water supply, it may be so to hard water or that the treatment option that you are currently using for your homes water is not the right one.

One of the most common solutions to treat a hard water supply is with a water softener or conditioner. In this installment, we shall briefly discuss the problem of hard water, how water softener systems and water conditioner work, and the difference between both.

Problems with Hard Water

Hard water is caused by the presence of too many metals or minerals in the water, such as magnesium, calcium, and others. These minerals dissolve into your household water through the dissolution of the surrounding soil and rock. Water hardness is calculated in milligrams per liter (mg/L) or grains per gallon (GPG). If your water tests 1 GPG or less, then you have soft water.

Hard water does not flow easily through because of the build-up of scale which accumulates inside your water pipes, heater or other appliances. In extreme cases, hard water can clog up water pipes and stop the flow of water all together. Hard water also influences household appliances and everyday activities. For instance, hard water reduces soap lathering, causing the water to become sticky and scum-like inside of lather.

How Water Softening Works

If you have a problem with hard water in your home, one of the best solutions is to install a water softener. Of course, it is important to speak with a professional who will test your homes water to see if this is the right option for your family. A water softener reacts with the calcium and magnesium ions and replaces them with sodium ion which results in a softer water. The added sodium is well below the FDA standard which makes the water fit for life.

The ion replacement is done in a tank filled with resin. The beads are negatively charged and attract the sodium ions which are positively charged. Once water flows across these beads, magnesium, and calcium ions are replaced with sodium ions.

Once the softening is completed, there is a need to recycle the beads in sodium chloride solution (water softening salt). This solution will remove the magnesium and calcium ions attracted to the beads and replace them with sodium. This bead can then be used for further softening session.

Choosing a Water Softener or Conditioner?

The term water softener and water conditioner are often used interchangeably. However, there is a huge difference between the two appliances.

Water conditioners remove chlorine, sediments, chemicals, and other foreign materials while treating water hardness while water softener system does not treat water for any other reason other than hardness. Of course, both appliances are used to treat water hardness, but the results are always different.

Water conditioner system processes water through a process that prevents scales. This causes a slight drop in the water pressure and causes the hardness-causing minerals to be suspended for three days. Usually, a catalyst in form of a magnetic field is used to enhance the process. In the end, the system displaces bad tastes, minerals, and prevents bacterial growth. Although the water is not technically soft, it still possesses the properties of a soft water. This means that the water will not precipitate and will lather easily with soap.

July 12, 2018

Removing Hard Water With A Water Softener

Before we discuss water softeners, it’s essential that one gains an understanding of what hard water is and how it affects you and your family. Hard water refers to water with a higher-than-usual mineral content. This is typically the case with water that is extracted from areas with large deposits of calcium and magnesium carbonates (naturally occurring in areas with limestone and chalk). While it can be argued that hard water does have some health benefits for humans, it can also pose some serious problems to homes and industry found in these areas.

Recognizing Hard Water

Here are a few ways you can recognize the presence of hard water:

If your water fails to foam or lather up when exposed to soap, you most likely have hard water.
Hard water is also responsible for corroding metal. This will show in faucets and sinks that are not covered with an anti-corrosive coating. Other equipment exposed to this water may also begin to corrode over time.
If used to fill a swimming pool, it manifests a “milky” cloud in the water. This occurs when the calcium in the water reacts with the carbon dioxide present in the air.

Softening Hard Water

Hard water can be “softened” using a water softener. Water softening is the chemical process of removing calcium and magnesium (among other metals) from the water. The end result is water that responds well to soap and which has little or no corrosive effect on metals. Water softening is thus a good idea especially in residential and business buildings because there will be less corrosion in the plumbing system and other critical equipment.

If you suspect you have hard water, then you may want to consider purchasing and installing a water softening system. A quick search online will yield high-quality, local, water softener installation and repair companies. Some are costlier than others depending on the features and capacity. Sometimes they’re known as water purification systems, water conditioners, or water filtration.

For residential homes, water softeners can be installed as a complete system costing thousands of dollars or a point of use filter which has a lower capacity and can be more affordable.

June 12, 2018

Maintaining Your Salt-Free Water Softener

A salt-free water softener uses potassium chloride instead of salt, so you will not experience salty water, or the salt build up that can occur inside the tank of your water softener. There are many other positive benefits of using a potassium chloride water softener, but you will only see them if you maintain it properly.

One of the things that you will need to keep track of is how much potassium chloride you have inside your brine tank. The potassium chloride should be at least three inches above the water line at all times, although you may find that you can keep less in there if you find a residue on the sides. It is a good idea to check your levels every couple of weeks at first, until you know how much potassium chloride you are using.

Your valves are a necessary component of your potassium chloride water softener, and you will want to turn them from one position to the other and back again once a month. This will ensure that they will turn easily when you need to cut off the water supply to your softener. This is also the time to clean the valve between the brine tank and the resin tank. To clean that valve, you will need to disassemble it first, but make sure that you relieve the water pressure before taking anything apart. If you notice that any of these valves are leaking, this would be the best time to replace the washers or seals.

The resin in your potassium chloride water softener is what helps soften your water, and you will want to keep it functioning properly. A water softener cleaner can be added every few months prior to a regeneration to keep the resin in optimal form.

New potassium chloride softeners do not need to be cleaned often, but they can benefit from an annual cleaning and so can your homes water. To clean your potassium chloride water softener, you will need to close off the water intake and take all the water out of the tank. Then you will remove all the potassium chloride and scrub the inside of the brine tank with hot soapy water. After the tank has been thoroughly rinsed out, you should sanitize the tank with a mixture of water and bleach.

Keeping this maintenance schedule will allow your potassium chloride water softener to continue working for many years, as it provides you with softer water.

At Reynolds Water Conditioning Company, we are here to help make sure our clients don’t buy water treatment systems that they don’t need. We are here to make sure you find a water softening system that gives you the results you are looking for, whether it is to remove iron or odor from you water; we have a solution that will help! For more information contact our experts at 800.572.9575 or at our website https://reynoldswater.com.

May 11, 2018

Water Treatment Systems Improve Homeowners Drinking Water Quality

There are a variety of water purification systems that can be used to improve the quality of the drinking water throughout your home. To determine what type of water treatment system your home needs it is important to understand the qualities that each system offers in increasing water quality. Professional water analysis can be done on your homes water to provide you with a more accurate look into the actual issues plaguing your water supply, from rust to arsenic, your drinking water could be affected.

Using the right system to purify the water in your home can help to keep your family healthy. It is common knowledge that we need eight glasses of water or more each day to maintain personal health; purer, cleaner water dispensed from the faucets in your home help to increase the water that is consumed by your family daily.

There is a major difference between water softeners, conditioners, filtration systems and purification. It is important to understand that water purification solutions leave valuable minerals in your water supply while eliminating harmful elements that may not be seen or smelt. Hard water and smelly water issues are not solved with the installation of a purification system however common contaminants such as chlorine, cryptosporidium spores, giardia cysts, viruses, and pharmaceuticals are eliminated.

Not all water needs to be purified so it is crucial to understand the issues with your homes water before purchasing a water treatment system. Water purification systems go a long way in removing common contaminates that may alter your health. They can be installed so that they treat the entire supply of water throughout your home or specific areas where water is supplied.

Water softeners unlike water purification systems bring homeowners high quality drinking water by removing iron, rust, odor, sediment, and smells. Softeners remove the minerals that make the water hard. Some of the symptoms that your home could benefit from the use of a water softener is dry skins, smelly water, staining, and clogged plumbing. Water softeners are installed treating the homes entire water supply. Water softeners can use salt or potassium chloride using a process of ion exchange.

The water treatment option that is used to bring you quality water will be determined by your water analysis. There are times when a homes water supply will need more than one treatment solution to bring families quality water. Hard water can contain contaminants that a water softener will not remove thus a water purification or filtration system needs to be installed either at the point of entry (whole house) or point of use (faucet).

May 2, 2018

4 Ways Water Softeners Improve Your Waters Quality

Water plays an important role in our everyday life and overall well-being, so it’s only prudent to ensure that we have a continuous supply of quality water for our homes, not only for our own good, but for the good of our appliances, energy bills, and of course our wallets.

The most cost-effective way of improving the quality of your water is using a water softener. Why? Water is often described as either hard or soft water. Most often your water is hard if you have had to call a plumber a couple of times to remove an unsightly scam build-up in your drains.

Hard water is the most prevalent in many households, and it’s considered “hard” because it contains a high concentration of dissolved minerals and impurities, most predominantly calcium and magnesium collected when the water moves through soil and rocks. While they are good minerals for your health, like too much of anything, too many minerals in your homes water can wreak havoc to laundry, household appliances, clog pipes, washing machines, water tanks, boilers, and renders soaps, detergents and cleaning products less effective.

Even though hard water doesn’t seem to pose a health risk, the damages an over-abundance of minerals can do are serious. Consider the following benefits of using a water softener system.

Water Softeners Remove Impurities in Your Homes Water

Water is a great carrier of impurities and installing a water softener system will remove the high concentration of calcium, magnesium, and other minerals that make water hard troublesome. Using a water softener will prevent iron/rust staining, mineral build up, dry hair and skin, and an abundance of bothersome issues that arise from hard water.

Water Softeners Eliminate Limescale Build-Ups

The high mineral content in the form of calcium and magnesium in hard water reacts with detergents, soap, and shampoos creating an abundance of soap scum build-up. If you’re tired of scrubbing scum build-up around the tub, sinks, or dishes then it is time to use a water softener system as this will help eliminate the build-up and improve the quality of your water.

Water Softeners Create Water That Is Soft Thus Better for Your Skin and Hair

Hard water is particularly harsh on the skin especially for people with conditions such as dermatitis, eczema, and psoriasis, because it leaves the skin extra dry and very irritated, thus causing extreme discomfort and more frequent, severe outbreaks. Hard water also makes your hair feel extremely rough and prolonged use can lead to brittle hair and eventually hair breakage.

Water Softeners Can Save Users Money Over Time

Hard water decreases the lifespan of your appliances, makes cleaning hard, blocks your pipes. It results in using more water, energy, maintenance bills, cleaning products, and more. Not only will installing a water softener system improve the quality of your water, but it is also affordable to run and use for only a few bucks a year.

April 26, 2018

3 Signs You May Need a Water Softener

Are you noticing stains in your kitchen sink? Is your skin dry and itchy? These are both signs that you might have an issue with hard water. The fix for hard water is most often the installation of a whole house water softener. The installation of a water softening system will improve the natural life of the plumbing within the home, your appliances, your clothing and more.

A water softening system are designed to take out an increase in calcium and magnesium ions be means of an exchange with either sodium or potassium ions. After this occurs the softening unit will regenerate and cleanse the systems of excess ions until they have been rejuvenated with new sodium or potassium ions. It is important to know the level of your waters hardness when setting up the rate at which your family uses water. It is important that the water you use every day is replenished in order to keep the build up of scale within your plumbing at a minimum while helping to improve your water heaters lifespan.

Here are some signs to help you determine if you need a new water softener installed or an older water softener replaced:

There is build up on appliances:

Can you see mineral deposits forming on coffee pot, the dishwasher, or other appliances? If you can visually see this scale occurring, then image what is happening inside the pipes where you cannot see. This scale will clog your homes plumbing and make it so that the water is not passing through the pipes as intended. Hard water brings on a buildup of scale, eventually creating inefficient plumbing. The hard, chalky substance, scale, is created from a build up of calcium and magnesium bicarbonate. The technology within water softener systems helps reduce the scale build up with ions exchange technology.

Dry skin and hair:

Extra calcium and magnesium salts within your homes water causes itchy, dry skin and hair. This is not something that can be overcome with soap and shampoo. When the build up is too much the water will no longer bring nourishment to your skin and instead it dries it out. The extra minerals found in the unsoftened water create an environment that doesn’t allow soap to be completely removed from the skin.

Clothing, sheets and blankets:

Are the fabrics within your home looking faded and feeling scratchy on your skin? This can be do to hard water which contains an excess amount of mineral substances. It will not matter what kind of laundry soap, softener, or fabric sheets are used while doing laundry, if you are doing your wash in untreated, unsoftened water. The installation of the right water softener for your home and water can change this.

If you sense an issue with your homes water, it is probably time to have the water tested. A professional water conditioning company will do a detailed analysis of the water coming into your home and prepare a report offering water treatment solutions to fix the issues with the water in your home.

April 5, 2018

Water Softener vs Water Filtration

When it comes to treating the water that comes into your home we know that you have a lot of questions and concerns. With the number of options available in treating residential water quality it can become quite difficult to differentiate between the products available and their purpose. The question we get most often is regarding the difference between water filtration and water softening. In this installment we will look at the differences and how you know what the best option for your home is. Of course, as always FREE water analysis is available through Reynolds Water Conditioning Co; our experts will better be able to evaluate your need in person.

Let’s start by looking at what each system is and what it offers to the quality of water that you will end up with using each specific water treatment option.

Water Softeners

Water softeners are installed to soften the water within your home. They are designed to remove only that materials and containments within the water that create hard water including magnesium and calcium. Two general types of water softening units exist: water softeners that use salt to chemically modify the water and those that use potassium, otherwise known as salt-free water softeners.

Water Filtration

Water filtration is a general term used to describe many different options in removing contaminants from water including rust, iron, arsenic, copper, sediment, pesticides, and even hormones that enter water supplies through industrial or pharmaceutical waste. There are two types of systems to consider in water filtration: whole house filtration and point-of-use water filtration systems.

Although similar in nature you can see how each uses specific technology to improve the quality of water. What option(s) you choose will depend on your specific water quality. Some homeowners may find that even after they have installed a water filtration unit they are still left with hard water. The water quality may be better but still hard affecting their skin, appliances, clothing, and so forth. In this case the best option may be to install a whole house water softener with a point-of-use water filtration system to maximize your homes water quality.

Do You Have Issues With Your Water?

If you suspect issues with your homes water quality, does it smell bad, stain, or create residue build up, or have recently found out through a home inspection that the quality of the water entering your home is sub-par it is imperative that you reach out to the water quality experts at Reynolds Water Conditioning Company.

March 26, 2018

Which Water Treatment System Is Best For Your Home?

Having a water softener installed in your home makes most homeowners feel good about the quality of their drinking water. However, depending on your homes water a softener may not be enough to remove the contaminants that are still in the water that you drink, use to wash food, cook with, and more. A reverse osmosis system can eliminate the contaminants from your softened water including a solid percentage of the sodium left in the water after the softening process.

There are a number of reason that a water softener and reverse osmosis system work well together. A water softener protects a reverse osmosis unit. A reverse osmosis system is not as efficient at removing or reducing calcium and magnesium, the contents of hard water, as a water softening unit. Installing a water softener in combination with a RO system reduces the hardness level in the water acting as a protective level for the reverse osmosis unit keeping it from layer containments within the system and in turn extending the life of the system.

Another reason the two systems work well together is because they improve the quality of the families drinking water. Many people that install a whole house water softener also desire the installation of an under the sink reverse osmosis system in the kitchen. This type of system can be installed to service the kitchen tap, the refrigerator lines, or both.

A reverse osmosis unit takes your water softener to the next level helping to make sure the quality of your drinking water better. A water softener and reverse osmosis system work together. The softener gives you soft water throughout the house by eliminating minerals in the hard water while a RO unit increases the purity of the drinking water by removing impurities.

Once a water softener has been installed homeowners will notice a savings in energy expenses, increased appliance lifecycle, and a decrease in the usage of soaps and detergents. In fact, a water softener quickly pays for itself quickly. Reverse Osmosis owners find the same to be true as well. Once a RO unit has been installed the need for bottled water is non-existent. A water softener and a reverse osmosis system work together to reduce expenses and provide high quality drinking water.

If you already have a water softener installed call a water professional to help you choose the best reverse osmosis system to install. You want the RO unit to work in conjunction with one another and not compromise or interfere with the water softener. A little research will tell you what type of warranty the system has as well as the how filter maintenance exists.

Having a whole house water softener installed in conjunction with a reverse osmosis system allows you to give your family high quality drinking water. RO systems remove impurities that are still found in tap water after it has been run through a water softener.