Hard water will always be a problem for many of our customers. If you Understand just exactly what the problem stems from and what it can do to your Oklahoma City plumbing you should be able to figure out a solution to the problem.
Hard Water?
Hard water contains a high amount of minerals. When it rains the water which is soft absorbs into the ground and goes down through the various layers of earth and rock. As it does it will accumulate a lot of minerals like magnesium, manganese and calcium. This will change the water from soft water to hard water.The total amount of minerals that the water will contain show how hard the water is and the level of hardness. Most of the water that you have coming into your house does not contain anything dangerous it will still cause major problems.
If your water tests at a 3.5 GPG or above it is definitely hard water. You measure the hardness in grains of mineral per gallon (GPG)
What Are The Problems You find with Hard Water?
The hard water will cause problems when and how it reacts to your cleaning products, It will make hard water build up or deposits, and it will break down your fixtures and faucets faster than if you have soft water. Minerals in your hard water will make your cleaning products ineffective and it will make cleaning a lot harder. It will build up on your pots and pans, your dishes, your clothes and also on you hair and your skin.
Will This Cause Problems With Your Plumbing?
Also the deposits on your faucets, showers, tubs and sinks stemming from your hard water will only be part of your problem. The hard water will coat the inside of you water lines, faucets and your water heater. The deposits that we can not see will end up with you having lots of other plumbing issues such as low water pressure, stoppages and corroding of the inside of your faucets and water lines.Your hard water will not allow your water heater to function correctly causing it to wear out much quicker. Your water heater will have to heat a lot of mineral deposits and still try to heat the water. So for the long run your hard water will cause you to have problems with your plumbing plus a lot more repairs down the road.
Testing Your Hard Water
If you are having water spots on your faucets it is often a sign of hard water.If you think you may have hard water there is a easy way to check. When washing your dishes see if the soap suds up or not. Or how much it does. How much your dish soap suds will tell you if your water is hard or not.
If you want to see how hard the water is will you will have to do some research or testing . You can start by giving your city water department a call and ask if they have tested the water. See if they will give you their findings. Laboratories will test your water if need be. You can also use a water testing strip you put in water and it will have a gauge to check it with. You can buy test strips or you might get some free ones online. You need to test the water to determine what solutions you will need.
How To Address You Hard Water Issues
They do have conditioning agent if you are dealing with low to medium hard water. If your water is in the high range though you will have to go with more aggressive options. Usually you will have to have your Oklahoma City plumber install a water softener for the whole house. Especially if your water is testing above 3 GPG.