The vast majority of homes in Utah have hard water flowing from their taps, showerheads, and faucets. Without some type of water softening system, the hard water can cause significant damage to your home and your personal belongings. If you currently have hard water, here are four signs you can look for to determine whether you need a water softener in Utah.
1: Spotting or Film on Dishes
When dishes are washed in hard water, which is water containing high amounts of calcium and magnesium, you notice they are covered with little white spots or with a white film.   This can be frustrating and embarrassing when you’re serving friends or family.  Many people add products like jet dry to their dishwasher to chemically soften the water and this can provide limited benefits . A water softener removes the calcium and magnesium from the water so when the dishes dry the minerals aren’t in the water to leave a residue and they are clear, shiny, and look clean.
2: Dry and Itchy Skin
Just like hard water leaves a film on your glasses and dishware, it also effects your skin and hair in a similar way causing skin to feel dry, tight and itchy after bathing or showering. Men also notice that their skin is more irritated when shaving, a customer recently stated that when he shaves in hard water it feels like he’s “ripping the skin off his face.” Soft water will even feel different when rinsing off. Many describe their skin as feeling “squeaky” when they shower in hard water and “silky” when showering in soft water.
3: Damage to Appliances
There are several appliances in your home that are impacted by hard water, including your water heater, dishwasher, and washing machine. Just like your clothing and skin, these appliances are susceptible to the problems associated with hard water. The minerals  will often build up inside the appliances and can ruin it prematurely by clogging pipes and damaging internal parts.
4: Scale Build up on Faucets and Shower Stalls.
The hard water build up in appliances is difficult to see because it’s in the internal components but we do see it on faucets, shower stalls and as rings in the toilet. We didn’t have a water softener in the home I grew up in and my mother would insist that the last thing we did when doing the dishes was wipe down the faucet with a dry towel. If we didn’t it was very easy to see the white residue that would be left behind when the water evaporated. When we installed a water softener the faucets stayed looking nice, without wiping them off all of the time, the rings in the toilet stopped accumulating and the showers didn’t required the regular extensive scrubbing to remove the hard water spots.
To prevent these damages, call Kinetico Utah and find out all the options available for installing water softeners in your home.