Skin Benefits of Soft Water

There are several reasons why soft water can be more beneficial to skin than hard water, and there are plenty of reasons to try and avoid hard water on the skin altogether. Let’s look at the effects soft and hard water have on your skin.

Effects of Hard Water on Skin

Hard water contains dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium, minerals which make it more difficult for water and soap to dissolve effectively. Leaving a scummy residue just like you’ll see on sinks, shower doors or fixtures.

This same residue clogs your pores, and can cause several skin conditions – studies have shown that children in areas with hard water are 50 percent more likely to suffer from eczema. Hard water can cause the natural oils in pores to be trapped and form blemishes or pimples, and it can even affect the way skin ages. Many people find hard water causes them to have dry, irritated skin, and wrinkles over time.

Effects of Soft Water on Skin

Soap easily dissolves into soft water forming a sudsy lather; one that easily rinses away and doesn’t clog pores. Soft water requires less soap be used when washing, and often allows people to stop purchasing lotions to counter the effects of dry skin caused by hard water.

Slippery Vs. Squeaky Clean

People who have spent their whole lives bathing using hard water will often associate the “squeaky clean” feeling they get after a shower with true cleanliness. These same people take a shower in soft water, and assume the slick or silky feeling on their skin means they aren’t actually getting clean.

In reality, this is backwards. That slick feeling on the skin is how the skin is supposed to feel, and that squeaky clean feel actually might be soap scum, dead skin and dirt that wasn’t washed away. That slippery feel means that natural oils haven’t been stripped from your skin, and are able to do their jobs.

Want to learn more about the benefits of soft water, or any of our water filtering solutions? The experts at Kinetico are standing by.

July 15, 2016

Key Questions to Ask Before Purchasing a New Water Softener

Water softeners can be a great addition to many homes in Utah, especially since most municipal water systems in the area have “hard” water, a term that describes water containing minerals like calcium and magnesium, that can cause problems with scale build up and dry skin. Before you get one, though, there are a few questions you should ask.

Does My Home Have Hard Water?

Most water in Utah is considered hard, but before you purchase a water softener it’s best to have your water tested. Not only will this let you know exactly how hard your water is, it’s important in selecting the correct size of water softener. This test is simple to do and any reputable water softening company can do it right in your home. Also ask if there are other elements in your water you should be concerned about, such as iron or chlorine.

What Kind of Water Softener Do I Need?

There are dozens of options to choose from when you’re shopping for a water softener, and the right one for your home will depend on different factors. First, determine the capacity you need for your water softener. Next, check for third-party certifications such as those from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) and the Water Quality Association (WQA) to make sure its performance matches up to the claims they are making.

Is This a Reputable Company?

There are a lot of companies to choose from when purchasing a water softener, so before you buy, make sure you do a little research. Not all companies will be reputable, and purchasing from a fly-by-night company that might do a poor installation, or might not be around when something goes wrong and the system requires maintenance or repairs. Choose a company that has been in business installing water softeners in Utah for many years. Ratings in publications like Consumer’s Digest and Consumer Reports can also be a good resource.

What Kind of Customer Service Do They Offer?

In addition to finding a company that provides quality products at an affordable price, you want to make sure the one you’re working with offers great customer service. Read reviews from previous customers, or ask for a phone number to check referrals and ensure you’re working with a quality company.

To find out more about water softeners in Utah and have one installed in your home, call Kinetico today.

June 15, 2016

4 Ways Water Softeners Can Save You Money

Most people know that water softeners make it easier to keep water spots and scum off of dishes, plumbing fixtures and silverware, but did you know that a water softener can also save you money? While it may cost a bit up-front, the four following money-saving benefits make up for the initial cost.

Reduces the Amount of Laundry Soap You Buy

Laundry detergent is fairly expensive, especially if you have hard water and need to use a lot of it. Hard water contains minerals that inhibit the ability of detergents to clean properly. This means that you will need to use larger amounts of detergent in order to try and get your laundry sufficiently clean. Installing a water softener allows you to use less laundry detergent and experience a significant savings advantage over time.

Soft water also eliminates the need to use expensive products like Oxy Clean, Calgon and Clorox to try and keep your whites from turning gray and dingy. Soft water will also eliminate, or virtually eliminate, the need for fabric softeners and your towels, sheets and other clothing be soft and fresh smelling.

Eliminates Damage to Plumbing

Want your plumbing system to last as long as possible? Installing a water softener may be the best way to extend its life. Mineral deposits from hard water can collect in your pipes, appliances, faucets and fixtures. It also leaves unsightly and hard to clean build up and rings in sinks, toilets and on faucets. Soft water eliminates these problems and helps ensure that your plumbing lasts as long as possible. Healthy, non-clogged plumbing pipes and appliances are less likely to require expensive repairs and replacement.

It is estimated that 17-20% of the cost of a home is for the plumbing system, that’s a lot of money invested, and soft water protects this investment and significantly extend its life.

Reduces the Amount of Soap and Lotion You Use

Soaps, shampoos and lotions may not seem very expensive, but their costs can add up to surprising amounts over time. Soft water makes it possible to use less of these items so that you don’t need to purchase them as frequently.

University studies have shown a 50-80% reduction in soap usage with soft water vs. hard water. As an example, the Maytag Answer Book recommends using 3tsp of detergent with soft water and in hard water 10-12tsp. In extremely hard water they say “it’s very difficult to achieve acceptable dishwashing results” no matter how much detergent is used.

In an attempt to get their dishes clean and spot free in hard water most people add additional products like Jet Dry or Lemi -shine. In soft water these products are not needed at all, adding to the cost savings and protects the environment at the same time.

Extends the Life of Your Clothing

The minerals found in hard water can be rough on your clothing and cause them to look dull and dingy. Water softeners are gentler on fabric and can help you save money by extending the life of your clothing. According to a Purdue University study “the life of clothing and household textiles was prolonged up to 15% when washed in soft water.”

May 2, 2016

Three Facts About Reverse Osmosis

Even though many companies offer home water softening systems, we think that we offer customers the very best options. Reverse osmosis water is some of the purest and most delicious water available anywhere in the world – and you can have a virtually unlimited supply at your home with surprisingly little cost. Your entire family can enjoy the pure, perfect taste of RO water just the way nature intended it.

Pressure Is Used to Remove Major Contaminants

A reverse osmosis system utilizes the finely tuned application of pressure to drive water through a semi-permeable membrane. This membrane is only about as thick as a sheet of plastic but it is capable of removing many different inorganic solids that are dissolved into water. Dissolved solids are any minerals, heavy metals, salts, etc that were once a solid that have now dissolved into the water.

You Never Come in Contact With Contaminants

The contaminants removed from the water by the reverse osmosis membrane are removed and flushed away. Your home reverse osmosis system will remove many major contaminants, including:

Lead
Arsenic
Iron
Sulfate
Sodium
Nickel
Mercury
Cadmium
Cyanide
Chloride
Phosphate

A home reverse osmosis system will also include two to four additional filters to remove other impurities that affect the taste, smell and quality of your drinking water. These additional filters will remove sediments and particulates, chlorine and many other chemicals.

All that is left is clear, deliciously drinkable water.

Reverse Osmosis Is Very Affordable

In terms of cost-per-glass, reverse osmosis is one of the most affordable water filtration systems available. The system’s components last so long that each glass costs homeowners only pennies. Your family can cook, make ice cubes, and enjoy clean delicious drinking water all without breaking the bank. The system’s ease of use and overall convenience also make it a valuable addition to any home.

Discover RO Water Today

Contact Kinetico of Salt Lake City Utah today to learn more about this water purification technology. In no time you can discover exactly what makes reverse osmosis water so exciting.

April 2, 2016August 29, 2022

Key Signs Your Home Has Hard Water

You may have heard the term “hard water” and wondered what it is and whether your home has this type of water. Unless you have experienced hard water before, how would you know if you had it? It’s important for homeowners to understand some of the common signs of hard water to be able to identify it, understand the problems associated with it, and learn the best ways to remove it from your water supply.

Hard Water Causes

Hard water comes from minerals that are present in the soil and are absorbed into the water supply on its way to your home. That usually includes some or all of the following:

Calcium carbonate
Limestone
Calcium sulfate
Magnesium
Iron

These minerals, while not generally harmful to your health, can cause problems any time you use water in your home.

Noticeable Hard Water Problems

While you can always call a water softener company, or your local water municipal office for a testing kit to determine if you have hard water, most people notice some of the other effects before they take the step of getting it tested. Things you may have noticed at your own home might include:

Water spots or a white film on your dishes and glassware
Coarse hair and dry itchy skin
Mineral deposits that build up on your faucets and appliances (and in your pipes, although you likely only notice this if it gets bad enough to clog the pipe)
Mineral deposits, known as scaling, on your shower and bathtub doors
Clothing that looks dull or loses its color quickly
Poor lathering from your soap or shampoo

Fixing Hard Water

The easiest way to fix hard water in your home (short of moving somewhere that doesn’t have any naturally-occurring minerals in the water) is to purchase a water softener. These systems remove the minerals and exchange them for salt, leaving you with softer skin and hair, shiny spot free dishes, cleaner clothes that hold their color longer, and pipes that are protected from continual scale buildup.

Another advantage of a water softener is the prolonged life for your appliances. Hard water can quickly damage appliances such as your washing machine, dishwasher, and water heater, which means they don’t work as well as you hope and you’ll have to spend money replacing them sooner. When you purchase a water softener, the water that flows through these appliances is free of minerals that could otherwise clog up the system and cause problems.

To get a quote on a new water softener in Utah, or to find out more about what minerals are in your water, call Kinetico of Salt Lake City today.

March 13, 2016

Three Little Known Benefits of Water Softeners

Cute little girl washing face and hands in bathroom

If you have hard water in your home and are considering water softeners from Kinetico Utah, we want you to make the best choice for your family. Our goal is to educate you about all the benefits that come from installing a water softener. Here we have several little known benefits of using water softeners.

Brighter, Longer-Lasting Clothing

Hard water is hard on your laundry, and using soft water ensures that your clothes stay brighter and last longer. If you’re raising kids and it seems like you do several loads of laundry each day, this can greatly cut back on fading and wear and tear that is common when clothes are washed. You will also have soft fluffy towels again, instead of the hard crunchy ones you now have.

Along with your clothing, your washing machine may last longer because the buildup of deposits and minerals that are common with hard water are eliminated. This not only improves the function of your machine, but saves you money in the long run.

Softer Skin

Hard water contains minerals that can be hard on your skin. With soft water, those minerals are removed, ensuring that skin is softer and smoother after you wash it. Hard water creates a dingy film that resides on the skin, and soft water ensures that your skin is clear and fresh every time you bathe.

Stronger Plumbing Systems

As with your washing machine, your other water using appliances, pipes and fixtures may have scale buildup in them, if you have hard water in your home. After several years, this can wear on your plumbing. If you hate clogged jets in your dishwasher, leaky faucets and hard water rings on your toilets, a water softener may solve your problems. A water softener removes minerals like calcium and magnesium that buildup in your homes plumbing.

Call Kinetico Utah Today

If you want to know more about the benefits of water softeners, give us a call today at 800-969-4420.

February 17, 2016August 29, 2022

The Costliest Water Damage Happening in Your Home

The idea of water damage is frightening for any homeowner, especially those who have experienced the destruction and long-term problems that can occur from things like flooding. However, there is another type of water damage that could be impacting your home and is much, much harder to detect because it’s happening inside your pipes: hard water damage.

The Basics of Hard Water

The two most common minerals found in water are calcium and magnesium, and while many people take these supplements to keep their bodies healthy, having them inside your water isn’t necessarily the best way to get them in your diet. For the most part, hard water that contains calcium, magnesium, and other minerals is not necessarily bad for your health, but it could be very bad for your plumbing.

Bathroom Fixtures

Perhaps the most noticeable damage from hard water is the stuff you see on your appliances and fixtures. Homes that have hard water will generally start to see a “buildup” of calcium and magnesium around the edges of faucets, on the shower, and perhaps around sinks and bathtubs as well. Unfortunately traditional cleaning supplies generally are not enough to get rid of this buildup, and if you wait too long, the only solution will be to replace your fixtures and shower heads.

Plumbing Pipes

Another type of hard water damage that you won’t see is inside your pipes. When hard water minerals and deposits harden inside the pipes they can cause blockages that are not easy to get out. Traditional drain cleaners won’t fix them, and in most cases you will need to hire a professional plumber to come and remove it. There are some plumbing fixtures that are less prone to damage than others, but the best way to avoid this type of damage is just to get soft water.

Appliance Damage

Finally, hard water minerals can cause serious and significant damage to your appliances. Water is essential for things like your dishwasher and washing machine, but when the pipes and inner parts of the appliance get clogged with hard water deposits, not only will your appliances be running far less efficiently and costing you more, but it might also be causing unseen damage that will wear out the appliance sooner. The end result is that you either have to pay for expensive repairs or just buy new appliances.

Rather than dealing with these costs, talk to Kinetico in Utah today to find out more about the benefits that soft water can provide. In addition to making your skin and hair feel softer, it can save you a lot of scrubbing and harsh chemical use when cleaning your bathroom fixtures, and can prevent some of the costly unseen damage to your pipes and appliances.

October 7, 2015

Signs Your Water Softener Needs Service or Repair

Water softeners are a great addition to many homes, and when they are working properly they provide plenty of benefits, ranging from cleaner, more comfortable clothing and towels to healthier skin and hair. When they are not working, though, you want to get repairs done quickly so you can get back to enjoying that nice soft water every day. Here are a few early signs that there might be a problem so you can stay on top of the repairs.

Dishes Appear Cloudy

If you notice that your dishes are not as bright and clean as they have normally been, you should check your water softener first. The minerals in hard water often leave water spots or deposits on your glass dishes, so this is a quick way you can spot a problem.

Soap Isn’t Lathering as Well

You may also notice that when you’re soaping up in the shower you have to use a lot more soap and you’re not getting those luxurious, sudsy bubbles that you were before. That could be a result of hard water, which makes soaps more difficult to lather.

Skin Feels Itchy and Dry

Another time you might feel the water softener not working is when you shower or bathe and get out feeling itchy and dry. Soft water is better at moisturizing your skin, so that itchy, dry feeling is not something you would normally experience.

You’re Not Replacing the Salt as Often

This is one that you may not notice right away, but something you will see gradually over time. If you normally replace a bag of salt about once a month, then you go for two or three months without needing to replace it (and with no substantial change in your water usage habits), that means the tank isn’t using up the salt correctly, and it likely means that your water softener has malfunctioned.

Troubleshooting the Issues

The easiest way to find out if something is wrong with your water softener is to call a professional to come and inspect it, but there are also a couple of things you can do on your own to check the system. Simply making sure your system is plugged in and the clock is properly timed for the backwash cycles can save you a lot of headache in the long run. You can also check hardness settings if your unit comes with those to make sure that they are still on your preferred level.

You may also need to clean out the resin bed if your water softener requires it, but in many cases it’s better to call a professional for this. They can also inspect for problems in the supply tank that feeds salt to the unit. Other issues might include a malfunctioning resin rinsing system that has clogged the intake. In the absence of an obvious way to fix it yourself (such as plugging it back in if it came unplugged), it’s often best to leave it to the professionals so you don’t risk injury to yourself or others, or the chance that you will cause even more damage.

September 16, 2015

How to Choose the Right Type and Size Water Softener

A water softener can have many benefits for your home, your appliances, and your personal comfort, but before you just head out and purchase the first water softener you see, it’s important to know about the different types and sizes out there so you can find the one that is best for your home and your budget.

The Role of Water Softeners

All water softeners, regardless of brand, type, or size, are designed to remove minerals that are making your water “hard”, which generally includes calcium, magnesium, and iron. They replace the minerals with sodium so you don’t have to deal with mineral deposits and buildup in your appliances, scratchy clothing, and dry, itchy skin.

Why Size Matters?

A properly sized water softener will last longer, ensure the water is soft all of the time and maintain proper water pressure. A water softener that is to small will have to regenerate more often to try and keep up, will wear out sooner and you will probably not be very satisfied with the quality of water it’s providing. If your water softener is undersized it isn’t able to regenerate often enough to keep your water soft. Also, when you are using a lot of water at one time, say 2 or 3 showers are being used, the water softener may not be able to soften the water fast enough to keep up with your demand and it will reduce your water pressure.

We have people contact us regularly who are frustrated with a water softener they purchased from another company because it just isn’t working properly. The most common complaint is the water softener is using salt but the water isn’t soft. One cause is they didn’t install a properly sized water softener, usually because the wanted to save a few extra dollars instead of doing it right the first time.

3 Important items to Consider When Sizing a Water Softener

It’s really easy to become confused when looking for a water softener. Here are three major criteria that will help in choosing a properly sized water softener.

Water Quality: It’s really important to have the water tested for hardness. Water hardness is measured in grains per gallon (gpg), soft water is less than 1gpg, 3.5gpg is hard, 7gpg is very hard anything over 10.5gpg is extremely hard.

Peak Flow Rate: The number of gallons of water that can be used at any given time is determined by the number of bathrooms, kitchens etc that are in the home. The size of the main water line is also important. If you have a 1” water line and the water softener has 3/4 “ internal plumbing than you may have times when the water softener isn’t able to soften the water as fast as you want to use it and will then notice a reduction in your water flow.
Gallons of water used per day: For many water softeners this the most important factor in sizing. If you have a large family or use a lot of water, such as regularly using a big garden bathtub, the water softener can’t keep up with your demand and the water becomes hard.

As part of doing your research we recommend inviting any water softening company you are considering to test the hardness of the water and perform a plumbing audit, before making a recommendation and providing you with a quote. The plumbing audit will allow them to not only examine the plumbing size and determine the number of gallons of water per minute (gpm) needed but they can also determine what is necessary to properly install the system, should you choose to work with them.

August 19, 2015

The Basics on How Water Softeners Work

You might have heard about all the potential benefits of a water softener, and if you live in an area with high levels of minerals in the water, this device can definitely improve your quality of life and the longevity of things like clothing and appliances. There are a lot of different options to choose from when you do get water softeners, so it’s important to understand the basics on how they work.

What’s in the Water

The vast majority of homes throughout the U.S. have water that is considered “hard”; what that means is that it has a high mineral content picked up when the water travels through deposit-rich areas on its journey to your home. These deposits often have things like limestone, calcium, and magnesium that get into the water and impact the quality of that water. While they won’t necessarily harm you, these hard water minerals can take a toll on your quality of life.

The Ion Exchange

The best way to eliminate these minerals from your water is with a water softener. These devices utilize a process called ion exchange, employing electrical attraction and chemistry to remove minerals and provide your home with cleaner, better water. When ions are injected into the water, they look for other ions that have either a positive or negative charge to which they can attach. The resin inside the softener tank is designed to attract minerals that are attracted to it, releasing salt into the water in exchange.

The Regeneration Process

Over time the softener will run out of salt that can be exchanged for hardness minerals, and the appliance must go through regeneration. During this process the tank will expel the minerals it collected through a drainage system, then refill with the sodium so it can continue the ion exchange process. Depending on the system, this process might be triggered by a timer (it happens at regular intervals) or by a meter (it happens only when the appliance reaches a certain level of minerals).

Benefits of Water Softening

There are many different reasons that homeowners choose to get a water softening system installed in their home. Some of the primary benefits that these systems can provide include:

Clothing that retains its color and softness better than in hard water
Hair and skin that feel softer and healthier, rather than feeling dried out
Longer-lasting appliances that are not damaged by buildup of minerals
Money savings, since you will use less detergent and soap
Dishes that are cleaner and do not have hard water spots
Ease in cleaning surfaces in the bathroom and kitchen
No soap scum buildup in the shower, bathtub, and in sinks

If you would like to find out more about how affordable these benefits can be, talk to a water softener company in Utah today to find out more.