Your Boerne home may have access to a constant supply of water but that doesn’t mean it's great water. Hard water is an important issue to consider in the Boerne and Fair Oaks Ranch TX area both for the integrity of your home and your family’s personal use. So consider the buyer’s guide below when you're in the market for a better understanding of what to look for in water softeners.

Introduction to Water Softeners

If you think the water that comes directly out of your plumbing pipe system is clean and pure, you’re mistaken.While it may be fine to drink, that water can cause you plenty of problems if it’s “hard.” This means that the water is infused with minerals like calcium, manganese and magnesium carbonate. The amount of these minerals in the water is measured by “grains per gallon.” Just one GPG is considered hard, but it generally isn’t an issue until you get between 3.5 GPG (relatively soft) and 10.5 GPG (extremely hard).

Hard water typically isn’t a health issue. However, it can wreak havoc on your pipes.The minerals cake onto the piping, causing calcium deposits and other issues that can reduce water flow and even get into the devices you use like coffee makers and dishwashers and incapacitate them. You’ll also have a difficult time getting hard water to build into lather, making it useless for showering or cleaning. Water softeners essentially work through ion exchange. When water flows through the tank, sodium chloride (salt) is substituted for the aforementioned minerals that cause the problem. This now “soft” water then flows into your home's plumbing system.

Size and Capacity

One of the most important things to consider in the Boerne and Fair Oaks Ranch TX area when researching water softeners is the actual size and capacity of the appliance. On the one hand, if you purchase a water softener that is too small, it won’t be able to keep up with the water demands of your home.

However, on the other hand, if you purchase a water softener that is unnecessarily large, it won’t have any issue supplying your household’s water, but it will cost you far more than you’d otherwise need to pay. You want a system that can adequately remove hardness from your home’s water without having to regenerate too frequently.

When you begin shopping for water softeners, you’ll notice that they are rated by the amount of hardness they can remove (typically measured in grains) between regenerations. Ideally, your water softener should be able to make it three days before it needs another recharge. It also helps to find a water softener that will be able to handle above average usage from time to time.

Find Your Boerne Water Softener Need's

Every home will have slightly different water softener needs depending on a number of factors, including the region in which they are located. To attain the best results from your water softener, you’ll want to have your home’s water tested.

Your local plumbers at Boerne Plumbing can test your water so you know exactly what you need from a water softener (many people find they have uncommonly high amounts of iron and or sediment).

As a rule of thumb, you can calculate the size of the water softener your household needs by taking the number of people in your family and multiplying it by 75. This will give you the average number of gallons your home uses per day.

Then, once you know how many grains per gallon (GPG) of hard water minerals you’re dealing with, you can simply multiply that number by the gallons of water your home consumes per day.

That final number is the amount of minerals your softener must remove every day to fight off hard water.

Prerequisites

One of the main things to consider when buying a water softener is the available space you have. You will want to connect it to the main water line coming into your home in order to provide soft water through out the whole plumbing system. However, there needs to be enough room for the tanks, as well as a drain for any backwashing that occurs.

Look for water softeners that come with NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) certification. Ask your Boerne plumber about how your softener will affect your home’s water heater and any measures you can take to ensure it won’t cause a malfunction to that important appliance. Lastly, look for warranties that cover your control valve for at least three years and the mineral tank for at least 10. With a good warranty and proper maintenance, your tanks should last at least 15 years.

While this may seem like a lot of information, it will go a long way in helping you make the right decision where a water softener is concerned. If you’d like help purchasing or installing your water softener or other water purification, conditioning equipment, contact the professional plumbers at Boerne Plumbing. We have over 35 years of experience helping people like you make the right choice.

Boerne Plumbing

215 W Bandera Rd.

Boerne, TX. 78006

(830) 249-4121