Water Softener Buying Guide
What is hard water?
Water from aquifers and other underground sources collects dissolved minerals from rock--particularly calcium, magnesium carbonate, and manganese.
These minerals give water undesirable characteristics that are dubbed "hardness."
Hard water is less an issue of health than one of potential expense. Many of the problems created by hard water are hidden until some type of malfunction occurs in your home's plumbing system or in water-using appliances.
When heated, dissolved hard-water minerals re-crystallize and form scale that eventually clogs plumbing. Eventually, this reduces water flow through pipes.
Scale and lime deposits take their toll on other water-heating appliances such as dishwashers and coffee makers, increasing the need for repairs. Worse, scale cakes onto interior surfaces of water heaters, making them less efficient and more likely to fail.
Hard water problems are more obvious as a nuisance where you cook and bathe. Calcium and magnesium react with many soaps and detergents, diminishing their lathering or cleaning capability and forming a scum--sometimes called "soap curd"--that is difficult to rinse away.
In the kitchen, this translates to spotted dishes and scale on cookware. In the bath, it appears as bathtub ring and tile scum. In the laundry, it means gray, stiff clothing. And in house cleaning it means more scrubbing and rinsing.
When bathing, you generally need more soap or shampoo and must rinse more thoroughly. Additionally, certain hard-water minerals, such as iron and manganese, can also have an undesirable appearance, odor or taste.
Hard water does enter the health arena in one area: People who have it are more prone to rashes and skin problems because it changes the skin's pH and soap remains on the skin, clogging pores.
TYPES OF WATER SOFTENER
Ion exchange
Inside a cation-exchange softener, the house water supply flows through plastic-like beads called "resin," arranged in columns called "resin beds" that reside in the "resin tank." These beads attract the mineral ions of hard water while giving off sodium ions. To periodically recharge the beads with sodium ions, they're flushed with salt water (brine), a process that removes the hard mineral ions from the resin and discharges them as waste. Once excess sodium is rinsed away, the cycle begins again.
A typical softener has a resin tank, resin bed, brine tank and some type of control. The resin tank is a container for the resin bed. The beads that make up the resin bed are typically made from styrene and divinylbenzene. The brine tank is filled with water and dissolved salt used for regenerating the resin beads. The unit's flow and regeneration processes are handled by the control.
Over time, these types of water softeners will deplete, since they are releasing their sodium, potassium, or hydrogen molecules into water as it passes through. The resin can then be regenerated, by passing some sort of a brine through the resin. Depending on the type of resin, the brine used is different, with sodium chloride refreshing sodium resin, potassium chloride refreshing potassium resin, and hydrochloric acid refreshing hydrogen resin.
Water softeners can be regenerated in three different ways: by meter, on a timer, or manually. Most of the water softeners nowadays automatically regenerate the resin.
Magnetic and Electronic Water Softeners
ZeroB Water Softener |
Kent Water Softener |
WATER SOFTENER BENEFITS
- Soap products work better with softeners, it can decrease your cleaning supply costs by 50% or more now that dishwasher and washing machines work better.
- You and your clothes and your dishes actually get cleaner, since soap and mineral no longer cling to your surface.
- Home appliances like water heater, coffee maker, dishwasher, and washing machine will all last longer and require fewer repairs.
- You'll have better water flow and water pressure in your pipes. One thing you'll notice with soft water is a kind of slimy, slippery feeling when you bathe, shower, or wash dishes. The saltier water has that natural characteristic, and it will taste saltier if you drink it without using a water filter. Most homes with water softeners also install water filters for drinking water.
- Prevents hair and skin problems, hard water can cause hair to become brittle and skin to become dry and itchy.
Buying the Best Water Softener
You should also check if the water softener needs electricity or not.
You should also check the chemicals that are removed by the water softener to ensure it meets your needs.
A good water softening system can last for a decade or two without much maintanance required. The only regular work needed is refilling the brine tank with salt pellets. You can buy water softener salt pellets at most hardware or home supply stores -- they come in plastic tubs or bags that you simply dump into the brine tank to the specified level. As the salt is consumed each month, you check the level in the brine tank and refill as needed. Salt is cheap and costs only a few bucks a bag (for 40 lbs). You can buy water softeners that are timer controlled or water meter controlled (ie, operating depending on the measured flow of water rather than on the clock).
WATER SOFTENER PRICE AND BUDGET
Kent Automatic Water Softener costs Rs. 49,950. It enhances the quality of water by replacing hard salts of Magnesium & Calcium with Sodium. It has fully automatic microprocessor time based regeneration which gives freedom from calling a technician, and from maintenance/recharging.
WATER SOFTENER BRANDS
Also see,