How do you install a whole house water softener ?
The vast majority of people use for their needs water with the increased rigidity. To solve this problem any person can refer to the water softener installation. But before we will talk about the importance of water softener installation let’s try to find out what is the hardness and why is it dangerous? All natural water contains calcium ions and ions of magnesium or stiffness.
Going from a soluble to an insoluble state, magnesium and calcium salts are deposited on the walls of water pipes, heating elements of appliances – boilers, water heaters, washing machines, kettles, irons, on the inner parts of the tubes and batteries. There are some interesting figures: in case of the formation of a layer of scale of a 1-mm on the radiators, the heating system efficiency is reduced by 10%. And the thicker this layer, the more energy is wasted. That is why water softener installation is required in the preparation of water for all major boilers. High concentration of calcium and magnesium salts in the water can also be harmful for a man. According to the World Health Organization, the available research suggests the connection between the increased rigidity of drinking water with cardiovascular disease, arthritis, accumulation of stones in the kidney and ureter. According to WHO; the rate of hardness of water is 1.0-2.0 mEq / L, whereas the real figure can be up to 10-15. Another minus – to bathe in hard water, you need to spend a lot of soap to “connect” hardness salts. Thus, the high rigidity is manifested in things as follows:
– harm to human health;
– the worn of water mains appliances that come into contact with water;
– reducing of the efficiency of the heating elements and the increase in heating costs;
– high consumption of soap, laundry detergent, etc.
To avoid all the diseases associated with rigidity you can think about water softener installation. There are several types of softeners and ways of softening. The first of these is the easiest – method of thermal softening, or simple boiling. It is used in everyday life, because the easiest way to “soften” the water and make it potable – is boil it. However, this does not solve the problem of scale in kettles and pans, and of course, you will not be able to save pipes and washing machines in this way. Reagent water softeners use chemical compounds that bind hardness salts. Salts precipitate before fall into the water system, and this gives an opportunity to avoid the formation of scale.
The disadvantage of this method is that the reagent should be replaced periodically. If you do not do it, hard water can cause damage even in case of a short-term contact with water. Ionic water softeners have a similar principle. Instead of the reagent they use ion-exchange resin. It absorbs calcium and magnesium ions in exchange for the sodium cations (most frequently). Ion-exchange resin from time to time needs to be replaced. And the spent resin as the reagent, need to be stored somewhere, and it is not always environmentally friendly. Water softener installation is a good decision