Soft Water : Why You Need It, And How You Can Get It

Last week, we spoke about hard water, and hard water areas. We discussed just what it is that makes hard water hard. This week, we’re going to talk about what makes water “soft”, and why it is beneficial to have soft water for your home or business.

As we mentioned last week – when rain falls from the sky it is naturally soft. It contains very few to no hard particles. It hasn’t yet travelled through rocks and dissolved the minerals found within. At most, it has possibly absorbed some carbon dioxide particles from the atmosphere.

Once it has passed through rocks and has carried off minerals into our water supply, an entire process must take place in order to return the water to its previous soft state.

So why do you need soft water?

The impacts of hard water are often overlooked, as the onset is slow and largely unseen. Much like watching our children grow – as their parents, we know they’re growing, but we don’t see it as keenly as the relative who only sees them every few months or once a year.

And sometimes, we just aren’t aware of what is causing problems.

If your boiler wasn’t working as efficiently as it used to, you may not immediately associate that with the quality of your water. But the fact is, hard water can cause limescale build up in your boiler. And if your boiler has to heat up layers of limescale before it can heat up your water – it’ll be less efficient, and more costly.

Not only does soft water not cause limescale build up, but it can actually begin to dissolve limescale that has already been deposited by hard water in the past.

In every way that hard water is bad, soft water is good. Hard water forces you to use more shampoo or shower gel to build up a lather. Soft water does not. Hard water can cause your clothes to become dull and grey. Soft water does not. With hard water, the glasses in your glass wash can become stained with water marks. Soft water helps to prevent this.

So how do you make the switch from a hard water to a soft water lifestyle? Well, shy of moving to Scotland, you’re looking at the installation of a water softener.

The softener that it is right for you depends on what your water demands are. The water usage of a high-street coffee shop is going to be very different to the water use of a one-person flat. We always recommend making the most of our free site surveys so that we can find a solution that meets your needs.