Water Softener or Soft Water?
If you are aware of all the reasons why we should be conscious about the quality of water that enters our homes, i.e. waterborne contaminants, rust, chlorine, and hardness, then there is a good chance that you have heard of people using water softeners to soften the water in their home. But is this the best method to handle all of the above mentioned common household water issues? In this article we will explore what water softeners do & don’t do, and what true soft water looks like.
What is a water softener and what does it do?
A water softener is a type of water treatment designed to treat hard water issues related to excess dissolved rock found in water, primarily dissolved calcium and magnesium. When this dissolved rock is found in large quantities in your water supply, it slowly calcifies and cements fixtures, faucets, pipes, and appliances. To help alleviate this issue, a process called ion-exchange is employed, where water runs over a bed of resins in a tank and the hard minerals are exchanged for “softer” minerals, like common salt. This is why we call this system a “water softener”.
The issues with water softeners are that they only treat the excess minerals in your water, and do not treat issues of chlorine, rust, or major waterborne contaminants found in your water supply. In addition to this, the salt that is used for exchanging the harder minerals, eventually ends up in our local water resources – it increases salinity levels in our lakes and streams and creates havoc on our environment. All this to say is using a water softener is really more for the health of your appliances and fixtures, not so much for yours or our environment’s health.
What is soft water?
Given that water softeners do not treat chlorine, rust, waterborne contaminants, and add salt back in the water, the name “water-softener” is a bit misleading at best. Truly “soft water” is pure water, with little to no contaminants, with no chlorine residues, and does not add “softer” minerals back in to call it “soft water”.
The better solution
If you are looking for truly soft water that removes all chlorine, treats rust, and can remove upwards of 99% of all contaminants found in the water supply, the only choice is the Flow Motion Home Flow 2000 Water System– A state of the art, turn-key water management system designed to vastly improve the taste, smell, and quality of the water throughout your entire home. All this without the added hassle of adding salt and performing regular maintenance, and without causing harm to the environment.
If you would like more information as to how you can have truly soft water in the home for you and the whole family, please reach out to us Here and we would be happy to set up a meeting with you to begin the qualifying process of getting a system for your home.