Water softeners offer many benefits to homes with light and heavy hard water. Since they reduce water hardness by removing heavy minerals like iron, magnesium, and calcium from the water supply coming into your home, they can prevent common problems.
Some of these problems include scale buildup on faucets, clogged pipes, damage to water-based appliances, and faded color clothing from your washing machine. If you live in an area with hard water and you are tired of faded clothes, a water softener may be a great option for you. They can help you soften and brighten your clothing and help you save money in the long run.
How Does a Water Softener Work?
There are numerous water softeners on the market to choose from, but they all work in a similar manner. They use a process known as ion exchange to substitute sodium for the minerals that cause hard water. In a standard system, water passes through a tank with resin beads covered with sodium, exchanging magnesium and calcium ions with sodium ions. When the water comes into contact with the beads, the sodium that accumulates on the beads enters the water. When the water exists in the system, its hardness is removed.
As time goes by, the resin beads become saturated with the minerals drawn out of the hard water. At this point, the water softener enacts a regeneration cycle, during which sodium-saturated water restores the resin beads to their initial state. After this, the water softener will work regularly again.
Common Hard Water Laundry Problems
Washing clothes in hard water can result in many problems. Hard water can cause the following laundry problems:
- Graying, dinginess, or yellowing of fabrics
- Weakening of fibers (results in tears)
- Soil build-up on clothes that can’t be removed
- Harsh, stiff-to-the-touch clothing
- Gray or white streaks on colored fabrics
These problems can make doing laundry a tedious chore when you factor in hard water.
Benefits of Installing a Water Softener for Your Washing Machine
There are many laundry benefits to installing a water softener. When you install a water softener, you will probably experience the following laundry benefits.
Protects Your Clothing
Hard water can damage your clothing, causing it to wear out quickly. It can also cause darker colors to fade and leave noticeable soap scum and mineral residue. If you have sensitive skin, you may notice your formerly soft clothing items have turned stiff and harsh. Soft water will help your clothes look cleaner and last much longer.
Protects Your Washing Machine
Hard water comes with extremely high concentrations of magnesium and calcium. As this water passes through your washing machine and pipes, it can leave deposits of these minerals behind. Hard water can also make the drum of your washing machine accumulate unsightly scale. Over time, these mineral deposits can accumulate and damage your pipes and washing machine. Using the right water softener can extend the life of your washing machine and pipes.
Saves Money
Did you know a water softener can help you save money? Hard water requires you to use more detergent to get your clothes clean. You may end up using significantly more detergent than you would with regular water. When you install a water softener, you won’t have to purchase and use as much detergent. This can save you a considerable amount of money over time.
Salt-Based Water Softeners
As mentioned above, salt-based water softeners are the most popular among homeowners seeking to solve their laundry problems. They are also considered to be the most effective. There are many salt-based options available to consumers, so you will need to choose one that is appropriate for your home.
Some water softeners are portable, making them an excellent choice for efficiency apartments or boats. These include a hose that allows you to connect your softener directly to an outdoor faucet or water supply. Salt-based water softeners must be recharged periodically using regular table salt. Although salt-based softeners do add salt to your water, it is only in trace amounts.
Salt-Free Water Softeners
Salt-free water systems may be the best choice for some individuals looking to eliminate hard water from their laundry routine. Salt-free, as their name implies, does not utilize salt to eradicate heavy minerals from the water. As a matter of fact, they do not remove the heavy deposits at all. Instead, these softeners condition the water so mineral particles cannot accumulate.
Although the minerals remain in the water, they do go through a conditioning process. Salt-free systems tend to cost slightly more, but they don’t use electricity or salt. They are also usually smaller than salt-based systems, so they can be installed in smaller houses or apartments.
As mentioned above, salt-based water softeners must be refreshed or regenerated when their salt content dwindles. You can regulate this by using a metered or timed system.
Metered vs. Timed Water Softeners
Metered Water Softeners
Metered water softeners function by counting the gallons of water passing through the water softener and automatically regenerating when the time comes. This type of system is ideal for vacation homes with long periods of vacancy because they will only regenerate when needed.
Timed Water Softeners
Timed water softeners are set to automatically regenerate the salt in the softener at a certain time. These softeners give users more control over the scheduled refreshing but use more salt than needed if the regeneration cycles are too short.
Whether or not your system softens water during the regeneration process and whether it’s an automatic or manual process will depend on how sophisticated your softener is. Fully automatic water softeners tend to be the most costly, and the more features they have, the more expensive they usually are. The size of your softener matters, too. A professional can help you calculate how large of a water softener your home needs.
Additional Laundry Benefits of Softer Water
There are other laundry benefits of adding a water softener to your home’s plumbing system. If you notice your water takes too long to heat, you could be noticing a symptom of hard water. A water softener can remove the minerals causing this problem, allowing your machine to heat water more easily. A softener can also improve your washer’s energy efficiency. Hard water can damage the components of a washer and make it work harder. You will no longer have to worry about this when you install the right water softener.
Softer clothes aren’t the only benefit of installing a water softener. Since hard water tends to dissolve poorly, you may notice your clothes have more static than usual. A water softener can help your machine maintain a better balance of minerals so you won’t experience extreme static cling every time you wash clothes.
Schedule Service Today
If you need more information about water softeners or you need one installed in your home, you should reach out to Hope Plumbing. We offer a number of professional and affordable plumbing services to the Indianapolis area, and we won’t stop working for you until you are fully satisfied. Contact us today to schedule plumbing service.
