How to Soften the Hard Water in the Valley

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report Water hardness…what do we do with hard water in the valley. First, let’s take a look at where we get our water in the valley. Most of our water comes through underground wells or it comes down through canals from the northwest part of the state, the Colorado River. Water also comes from snow runoff in the higher mountains of Arizona and comes also down through canals to this area. Once the water is here, if we need the water at that time it is treated and pumped out to the population. If the water is not needed at that time, the water is added to the aquifers under the Valley for future use. When this water is needed, it is then pumped out, treated, filtered and pumped to those that need it. Since our water goes through so many points of contact, it can contain lots of impurities. That’s why we have hard water. Hard water comes from two different kinds of salts: calcium or magnesium. Because this hard water doesn't lather or clean well, it gets on clothes and can leave scum inside appliances. We can measure the water’s hardness a couple of ways.  “ Hard water doesn't lather or clean well. ” How do we treat it? Consider water softener. It doesn't take any salts out, but instead, it changes the magnesium or calcium salts to sodium salt. Sodium salts don't create scum and clean better; they’re even better for hair. Water can also be treated with a reverse osmosis system. This uses a membrane to filter out the salts to purify the water as much as possible. I consider reverse osmosis a better solution, because it actually removes the salts. As always, please contact me with any questions you have. I’d be happy to help serve your local real estate needs!