Before the water that you use every day is piped into your home, it is put through a rigorous treatment procedure by the city. Harmful chemicals and minerals are removed, after which the clean water is piped into your home to be used. This treatment process, while effective for making your water safe to drink, is unfortunately ineffective at preventing one big problem: hard water. Let’s take a look at what hard water is, what it can do to your plumbing system, and how you can stop it.
What Is Hard Water?
Hard water is the term used for water that has a very high mineral content. It is common to many geographic locations across the United States where water percolates through certain types of stone. As hard water flows through the pipes in a plumbing system, it deposits small amounts of these minerals on the walls of the pipe. At first, these deposits are harmless. Over time, however, they grow and develop into a substance called “lime scale.” Lime scale restricts the flow of water through the pipes, decreasing the efficiency of your plumbing. Eventually, the buildup can become so advanced that the pipes need to be replaced.
How to Prevent Lime Scale
The single greatest way to prevent hard water damage like lime scale is to install a whole-house water softener in your home. A whole-house water softener is a filter that is connected to the main water line of your home. All water flowing into your home flows through this device, where the minerals that cause lime scale are filtered out before moving into your home. This protects your entire house from the negative effects of hard water.
If you’d like to know more about hard water and how to stop it, call Rentmeister Total Home Service. We provide water softeners throughout Salt Lake City, UT.