Water Softeners

Water softeners are designed to reduce the concentration of calcium and magnesium which make water 'hard'. A water softener can help eliminate some common kinds of problems. Water that has not been softened can interfere with calcium sensitive detergents and hinder their ability to lather properly and cause hard precipitate to form. Water softeners also improve the cleaning effect of detergent. Water softeners can reduce the problem of water pipes getting clogged by scale buildup from the calcium and magnesium carbonates. The design behind a water softener is simple. The calcium and magnesium ions in the water are replaced with sodium ions. Since sodium does not scale onto pipes or react poorly with soap, both of the problems of hard water are eliminated. The more expensive solution is to filter out the calcium and magnesium through reverse osmosis. Water softeners are often designed to delivery softened water to the whole house but occasionally a water softener will be built into an appliance such as a dishwasher or a washing machine.