Hard water means that the water inside your home is not filtered from the point it reaches the water meter to when it leaves a faucet or appliance for use.
Do you know whether your home has soft or hard water? If you have only ever experienced one of the other, it might be hard to figure out whether the water in your house is hard or soft. Hard water means that the water inside your home is not filtered from the point it reaches the water meter to when it leaves a faucet or appliance for use. Your local treatment facility treats your water, but these processes can still leave a lot of different minerals dissolved inside the water. Soft water is the known term for water that is filtered as it goes into your house, removing the large majority of these dissolved minerals from the water before it leaves the faucets. Read on to learn how hard water could be affecting your home’s plumbing system.
Soap Usage
Hard water leads to a greater usage and consumption of soap. The ions in hard water can react with the elements in the soap to create soap scum instead of the smooth later we prefer. It is not just shampoo, either – dishwashing soap, body soap, laundry detergent, and other types of cleaning solutions are all affected differently by hard water. These household products are pricey, so using a bit more product for each wash adds up to significant extra dollars spend as the years pass.
Pipe Scaling
As hard water flows through your pipes, the minerals dissolved in it (mainly magnesium and calcium) can settle on the interior of this piping. Over time, the entire pipe can become coated in what is known as pipe scale. Just like the plague in your arteries can risk damage to your own heart, scale in a pipe can risk damage to your plumbing system. With fewer areas to flow through, running water exerts more and more pressure onto your pipes, leading to cracks and leaks at the pipe joints.
Foul Smells and Tastes
Sometimes the combinations of different ions in your water can create odd smells and tastes. As far as tastes go, you can buy a water filter for your sink, but nobody wants to bathe in stinky water. Hard water won’t kill you, but it can do a lot of pesky things to you and your home.
A RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL PLUMBING COMPANY YOU CAN TRUST
Alpha Plumbing is a full-service plumbing and contracting company serving the Baltimore and Annapolis metro area with expertise in all aspects of plumbing. We’re family-owned and operated since 1991 from our office in Pasadena. We offer quality plumbing services at reasonable rates in a timely fashion. Our trucks are equipped with GPS systems to ensure we’re prompt and on time. No job is too large or too small! We maintain a fleet of well-stocked trucks and also own and operate our own backhoes for jobs requiring excavation.
For more information and to get a free no-obligation estimate, you can contact us on our website, send us an e-mail, or give us a call at (410) 255-5998.