What Is The Main Purpose Of A Water Softener?
Before delving into all the amazing benefits of water softeners, let's first understand what they are.
What Is A Water Softener?
Before delving into the inner workings of water softeners, let's first understand what they are. A water softener is a device designed to treat hard water and remove the minerals that cause hardness. Hard water contains an abundance of calcium and magnesium ions, which can lead to various issues like scaling in pipes, reduced soap lathering, and increased energy consumption.
A water softener is a device designed to treat hard water and remove the minerals that cause hardness. Hard water contains an abundance of calcium and magnesium ions, which can lead to various issues around the home.
For more in-depth info about the function of water softeners, check out our article on how exactly water softeners work.
Benefits of a Water Softener
It’s important to understand why we need water softeners in the first place. Hard water can cause a variety of problems both in your home and health. For more on the differences between hard and soft water, explore our article Hard Water vs Soft Water.
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Eliminate Water Spots and Scaling
Have you ever noticed little water drop looking spots on your dishes? Or maybe you’ve noticed a crusty buildup around your sink or shower faucet? Though over time hard water buildup could cause significant damage, the main problem most people face is that it makes your nice dishes and appliances look dirty or dingey. You may even notice water spots on cars if you wash your cars at home.
A water softener helps eliminate those hardness-causing materials from your water, so there are no minerals to build up or leave behind.
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Protect Your Appliances
Hard water can cause buildup in the important plumbing systems that you use daily in your household habits such as dishwashing, doing laundry, as well as using sinks, tubs, and showers. Hard water could even negatively affect any other small appliance that gets filled with or otherwise uses tap water – think coffee makers, irons, steamers, etc.
Damaged pipes and appliances can be expensive and time-consuming to repair or replace, so it’s best to avoid that headache by using a water softener.
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Keep Your Clothes Soft and Bright
Doing laundry is a basic never-ending household task, so we definitely can’t leave it out of this conversation. Without a water softener, you may notice over time that your clothes come out of the washer looking dull or feeling less soft. Just as hard water minerals can get left behind on appliances and surfaces, they can also get stuck in your laundry.
One of the less obvious benefits of soft water is that your clothes will retain their bright whites and colors, as well as their soft texture.
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Protect Your Skin and Hair
Who knew there were beauty benefits of a water softener? Aside from just appliances and clothing, hard water can also damage your skin and hair. Think about it, those same minerals that are building up on your surfaces are there when you are washing your hair, face, and body. You are using hard water on yourself daily, which can leave you with dull hair, and dry or even irritated skin.
With a water softener, you can keep your skin smooth, and your hair shiny and soft.
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Save Money On Soaps and Detergents
Because of the minerals that get left behind and on your skin, clothes, or surfaces, you may feel the need to use more soap or detergent. One of the more cost-effective soft water benefits is that you can reduce the use of these products in order to get things clean. And let’s face it, household products like laundry detergent, face wash, shampoo, or dish soaps, can be expensive – especially if you need higher quality brands to do the heavy lifting required when your home uses hard water.
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Reduce Health Risks
What are the health benefits of a water softener? – Mainly to reduce the risk of mold and bacteria exposure. Hard water buildup creates a convenient space for mold and mildew to grow. When it comes to showers, sinks, and drinking water faucets especially, you don’t want to mess around with potential daily exposure to mold.
Another less direct health benefit circles back to overusing soaps and detergents, which can also lead to unnecessary overexposure to the synthetics and chemicals often present in household products.
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Improve Tap Water Taste
One of the more simple water softener benefits is the difference you will notice in the taste of your tap water from the absence of hard minerals. The smell of objects and appliances that get exposed to water may also improve.
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Save Money on Energy and Water Bills
Because of that grimy buildup that’s left behind from hard water, you may feel the need to wash things more than once to really get them clean when hard minerals are present. This can result in overuse of water and energy by running appliances and plumbing fixtures more than is necessary.
Soft water also heat up faster by your water heater. This helps saving more energy whenever the water heater is on.
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Reduce Plastic, Energy, and Water Waste
Not only does the reduction of household products, water, and energy benefit your bank account, but it’s also good for the planet. Though it seems indirect, a simple yet significant environmental benefit of water softeners is the reduction of plastic waste from soap and detergent bottles.
A water softener will reduce the amount of products, water, and energy required to keep your home clean and functioning – helping the planet stay clean and functioning as well.
What Are The Signs You Need A Water Softener?
If you notice any of these issues that come from hard water in your home, it may be in your best interest to use a water softener.
If you are still not sure, you can always test the hardness of your water with the APEC Total Hardness Testing Kit, to see if the hardness levels of your water are significant enough to tackle with a water softener.