Water softeners remove the calcium and the magnesium from water; these elements are the source of what is commonly called “hard water”. Water which is hard makes cleaning and bathing unnecessarily difficult because it often leaves scum and stains behind; dulling the finish on chrome taps, leaving spots on dishes and dulls clothing. Water softeners in Lincoln, NE use ion exchange to soften the water by exchanging the elements that cases the water to be hard with sodium. Sodium that is produced by the water softening process can upset the balance of salt for those on sodium restricted diets so it must be used with care in this event.
Hard water comes from the aquifer; it is here where calcium, magnesium and other minerals slowly dissolve in the water coming from the surrounding rock formations. It is these minerals that cause hard water, which can be measured. There is a system that equates hardness in GPG, grains per gallon with one grain equaling the weight of one grain of wheat. If the water is higher than I GPG then it is considered hard, anything above 10 GPG is extremely hard.
It is possible to overcome a hard water problem if the concern is only the laundry as there are detergents that include certain chemicals that can soften water. However, in homes that have a hard water source they usually use water softeners in Lincoln NE that soften all the water through ion exchange. Water softeners contain the medium which is used for the exchange; this medium starts out as a sodium ion which is positively charged. The minerals in the water also have a positive charge but it is stronger than the charge on the sodium ions. As water runs through the medium, the minerals are captured and the sodium ions are set free as the calcium and magnesium have a stronger attraction.
Over time the medium becomes coated in ions from the unwanted minerals and the system is back flushed with a solution of sodium chloride; this is called “recharging” the system.
Depending on the type of water softeners in Lincoln, NE that the homeowner has, there will be varying amounts of work required to perform the recharge. The most common and popular systems are all automatic which recharges based on a timer that the homeowner sets.
