Water Treatment –  Benefits To People, Property, Lifestyle

Southern Wisconsin is notorious for its mineral-rich hard water. Appropriate water treatment improves water quality. Drinking water tastes better, soap rinses off in the shower and dishes come clean quicker, easier. Treated water is safer for people, pets and plumbing inside your Cross Plains WI area home. Hard water not only shows up as streaks on dishes and crusts on shower heads, it builds within pipes, dishwashers and fixtures.

It would be nice if there was a one size fits all solution, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy. The first step is universal – get an accurate, professional water test. After that, professionals like those at Sauk Plains Plumbing and Pumps will design a water treatment solution specifically for your home and family.

Among the common solutions in Southern Wisconsin are:

• A water softening system
• Various water filter options
• Reverse osmosis systems
• Ultra Violet light treatments
• Chlorination and/or de-chlorination
• Or a combination of these specialized systems

Hard water is a reality throughout Dane County, both in municipal water supplies and water from private wells.

Failing to test and properly treat the water coming into your home can allow more than natural minerals into your drinking water. Dangerous impurities are a constant threat – to people, pets and expensive appliances and plumbing fixtures like your water heater. Have you ever heard your water heater crackle, pop and bubble inside like it’s boiling? That’s the scale built up from minerals in the water breaking loose.  Timely treatment extends the life of your vital appliances.

Softening Hard Water – The Most Common Water Treatment

Hard water deposits are easy to spot in your kitchen and bathroom. They ruin the aesthetics of designer fixtures. Inside they damage pipes, connections and the inner workings of fancy faucets and shower heads. When you invest in fixtures for performance and comfort you don’t want them blemished by ugly mineral deposits, do you?

The soluble minerals in local water cause the dried deposits on metal surfaces. If you have city water most of the minerals are removed before it gets to your house. But municipal water treatments do not remove all the harmful chemicals. If you have a private well, all the treatments are up to you. Without treating your water source, no matter where the water originates, you’re likely to see the ugly deposits on fixtures and residue on dishes and clothing.

Kitchen and bathroom fixtures are where hard water residues are seen most often. That’s logical, they are used most often. The crust on your shower head is just like the tip of an iceberg. Really, you see a small part while beneath, inside the pipes, there’s an even greater potential for damage.

Removing stains and residue doesn’t take on the real problem – corrosive chemicals in the water. Only a whole house system to treat your water provides a safe solution. A whole house system centers around a water softener. Deciding which water softener is right for your home depends upon a systematic analysis and water testing inside your home.

Find A Water Quality Solution

There are two spots for water treatment to be applied:

Point of entry – where the water comes into your home’s plumbing routes. This is where a water softener and large water filter systems treat incoming water. They apply science and technology to protect water and its users before it goes on to showers and baths, clothes and dish washers, sinks and toilets.

Point of use – designed for small amounts of water where it is used like filters on faucets. This application provides a secondary barrier for contaminants, keeping them out of drinking water and water used for cooking.

How do you know if your home needs a water softener or water filter system – or an existing one is ready to be replaced? Call the licensed, expert plumbers at Sauk Plains Plumbing and Pumps if you ever experience any of these:

Tap water’s taste is “off” or changes noticeably.

The water from taps and showers has an odor.

Water doesn’t provide the suds and lather you need and leaves dishes and skin with a film or scum.

You see crusty buildup on fixtures.

Making sure your family has clean water for bathing, drinking and cooking is too important to take for granted, don’t you agree? Well, it’s equally important for the infrastructure of your house.

The Water Quality Research Foundation reports installing a water softener can increase the life and performance of your water heater. Its study revealed that heaters benefiting from softened water maintained factory efficiency for up to 15 years. Hard water reduces that efficiency and life span by as much as half. And, shower heads lose up to 75% of their flow rate in just 18 months when hard water corrosion builds up inside. Strainers in kitchen faucets can clog in as few as two weeks.

Water Filters – Step Beyond Softening Water

An efficient water softener takes many of the minerals out of your water supply, but it doesn’t deal with chemical contaminants or bacteria. It takes a filtration process for that. For the ultimate peace of mind, a whole house filter system is ideal. However the most common water filter systems are installed in the kitchen. Some come built into appliances while many are installed underneath the sink. Some are a simple as a pitcher in the refrigerator. They are efficient for small amounts of water used for drinking and cooking, whole house installations provide safe, clean water to every tap.

When you turn on the tap you don’t think about water quality, do you? You expect safe water to drink, bathe and cook with. That’s especially true when you’re “on city water.” You expect the municipality to deliver treated water. Even with municipal water supplies a whole house water filtration system has advantages, including:

• Reducing levels of volatile chemicals like chlorine before they are imbedded in fabrics or released into the air.
• Removing chemicals that contribute to soap scum – the ring around the bathtub!
• Drinking water tastes better.
• Symptoms of asthma and allergies can be reduced.
•  Clean, safe water comes from every tap in the house.

Modern, high-tech water treatment systems require little or no maintenance when installed by a licensed, professional plumber. Quality filters typically last from 5 to 10 years.

Homeowners see and feel the results of a whole house filtration system almost immediately – on their skin, dishes and clothing.

Some Filters Target Specific Elements

Not all water filtration systems are designed to do the same thing. Some filter media are engineered to target specific chemical elements. Some, for example filter out sediment and rust. They protect your plumbing but not necessarily your health. Others eliminate chlorine while reducing the impact of lime and calcium. Others target even more specific chemicals like heavy metals such as lead and those found in pesticides.

Complex reverse osmosis filters gained popularity in recent years because of their effectiveness in demineralizing drinking water – improving taste and clarity. The No. 1 disadvantage is that a reverse osmosis system usually has a relatively low capacity. So it isn’t ideal for a large home or a family putting a lot of demand on the water supply.

Never Too Late – Apply Water Treatment Any Time

Your shower head is coated with a crust like the rim of a margarita glass. What now? Like the margarita glass your fixtures can be cleaned and steps taken to keep hard water from damaging anything in the future.

Repeated cleaning removes stains and mineral deposits before they penetrate the surface of sinks and fixtures. An assortment of household products makes up the arsenal to fight hard water residue. Professionals suggest whole house cleaning tips:

• For chrome faucets – use paper towels soaked in white vinegar. Wrap them around the faucet and allow to sit for an hour before rinsing and drying.
• On showerheads – remove the showerhead and soak it overnight in white vinegar. Then scrub and rinse before reinstalling
• For shower doors – spray doors with white vinegar to remove lime scale and hard water stains on glass – white wine is reported to work, too.
• In sinks and tubs – spray surfaces with lemon juice or white vinegar. Let sit for 30 minutes before wiping clean – multiple applications may be needed for extreme build-up.
• In toilet tanks and bowls – Add 3 cups of white vinegar to the tank and use 3 cups to clean inside the bowl.

There are cleaning tips for appliances, too, but always consult your owners’ manual and warranties before going ahead.

Coffee makers – run one brewing cycle of the machine with the reservoir full of white vinegar follow that with at least two more cycles of fresh water to rinse the machine. Some modern machine-makers provide specially-designed cleaning pods.

Dishwashers – at least once a month add a cup of white vinegar to the machine and run it through a cleaning cycle without any dishes in it.

Washing machines – add a gallon of white vinegar and run the machine empty through a wash cycle.

Water Treatment – Prevention Beats Damage

Treating hard water every minute of every day is the best way to prevent damage inside your home. It’s relatively easy, too, once an appropriate system is devised and installed. If you’re already dealing with hard water, consider these suggestions for staying ahead of serious damage while Sauk Plains Plumbing creates a system for your home:

• Don’t allow water to sit and dry on anything – mineral deposits form when water evaporates. Wipe down sinks, shows and tubs – anywhere that gets wet – so the action is slowed.
• Spray shower doors, walls – after each use spray surfaces with a commercial daily cleaner to help remove water from walls so it isn’t drying on the surface.

Timely water treatment helps to safeguard your family’s health with clean, safe water. Knowing your home’s water quality is protected is a boost to your personal peace of mind – and that’s a real benefit, too, isn’t it?

Whether you’re adding a new treatment system, replacing an existing one or including a system with new construction, Sauk Plains Plumbing’s certified staff is prepared to provide everything you need. We’ll begin with an on-site evaluation and move on to installing high-efficiency products providing custom solutions for your needs.