Soft Water Can Lead To Energy Savings : Home Improvement

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Soft water usually offers a large increase in the quality of water entering a household for regular household uses over hard water supplies. Minerals found within hard water entering houses can cause issues with scum and rock forming where the water comes into contact with people and household appliances, such as washing machines and dishwashers. Hard water is found throughout the U.S.; in states such as Utah soft water is created by using machines that exchange ions in the minerals within water supplies as it enters a property.

Rain water falls as soft water free of the majority of minerals found in water supplies. When the water finds its way to the Earth it comes into contact with minerals and chemicals as it passes into waterways and into underground water supplies. The most common minerals passing into water and magnesium and calcium, other minerals include lime that many people believe adds extra flavor to drinking water. In regions with hard water supplies, such as California, Nevada and Utah soft water supplies are only available through water softening techniques; magnesium and calcium ions are often exchanged in water softeners with ions from potassium or sodium that do not harden water.

Softened, or conditioned water can offer a large number of advantages over hard water supplies. Included in these advantages are the reduced amounts of mineral buildup in pipes and on surfaces that come into contact with water; mineral buildup often forms into hard rock like substances that can block pipes carrying water into or out of a building. Dishes washed in soft water are left with less residue after washing and requires less dish detergent to successfully clean items than those washed in hard water. In hard water areas, such as Utah soft water can provide a large saving in the amounts spent on household and personal cleaning items, including shampoo?s, soap and dish detergent.

Included in the savings offered by soft water supplies are the maintaining of efficiency ratings of household appliances. Washing machines and dishwashers can maintain the efficiency reported in factory testing over the majority of a 15 year life; households using hard water see a fall off of over 20 percent in appliance efficiency, according to a 2009 U.S. study into water quality. The same study also highlighted the benefits of soft water in various types of water heaters; in all areas of the U.S., including hard water states such as Arkansas and Texas soft water used in water heaters led to lower utility bills because of reduced mineral buildup in appliances.

Personal hygiene can also be improved with soft water usage; hard water often makes it difficult to maintain clean skin because of the negative reaction between the contents of most soaps and magnesium and calcium. Shampoo used in hard water areas often require larger than recommended amounts to be used that in most cases still leaves hair dull and lifeless. Dollar savings are also made through the use of soft water where less soap and shampoo are used than in hard water areas.

Source: http://www.theyellowads.com/home_improvement/soft-water-can-lead-to-energy-savings

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