Scale Buildup on Appliances: How Can You Fix It?

If you go looking around your home, you may notice some stains around your sink faucets and drains, as well as in your shower. Is your skin extra dry and itchy too? These issues could be signs of hard water in your home. Luckily, there’s a simple fix - have a water softener installed in your home! A water softener system can do several things for you: it will increase the lifespan of your plumbing and appliances, improve the cleanliness of your clothes, counters, skin and hair, as well as help reduce your spending overall.

How Water Softeners Work

So what exactly does the water softener system do? It takes out the extra calcium and magnesium ions in your water by using sodium and potassium. Once the reaction takes place, the water softener will flush the system of excess ions and recharge them with the sodium.

You can find more information on hard vs soft water in Advanced Water Solutions' blog here.

Here are 5 signs that you need to install a water softener in your home:

There is Scale Buildup on Your Appliances

If you see any kind of scale on your appliances, you likely have hard water. Scale is a hard chalk-like substance that's made up of calcium and magnesium, and this is what causes the white substance to build up around your home (and on you when you take a bath or shower!)

If mineral deposits are showing up on your teakettle or coffee pot, they're also building up within your pipes. Over time, this buildup will cause your plumbing to become less effective at passing water through the pipes and eventually become completely defective.

Are You Constantly Repairing Your Plumbing?

If you seem to have that plumber on speed dial to come out and repair water leaks around the valves in your home, you may want to take a look at your pipes. If you have an older home with steel pipes, they are more easily damaged from limescale buildup. Copper and PVC pipes hold up better to hard water, but no matter what your pipes are made of, the flow of water through them becomes restricted and water pressure is lowered when they have limescale buildup. If you continue to ignore this issue, the buildup will start happening at a faster rate as the space within the pipes gets smaller. Simply making sure that there's no limescale buildup in your pipes will reduce the wear on your appliances and your budget.

Is Your Glassware Easily Damaged?

Hard water stains are the worst to remove from your glassware, and it will even start to make them more brittle. Try using a vinegar solution in your dishwasher instead of powdered soap to remove those pesky water spots. If you’ve tried all the tips and tricks for removing those hard water stains, it may be time to look into installing a water softener in your home.

Are Your Clothes Fading?

Aside from regular wear and tear on your clothes and linens, there may come a moment when you realize that these items are fading faster than normal. This is a sign of hard water running through your pipes. If you notice your clothes are feeling scratchy and are hard to wash, it could be due to the hard mineral buildup in your plumbing. If it’s taking this toll on your clothes, just imagine what it is doing to your appliances and your skin! If home remedies are not helping, it would be best for your clothes and your washer to install a home water softener.

Are Your Skin and Hair Dry?

Showering in hard water can actually cause your skin to become itchy and irritated. This is due to the calcium and magnesium salts that are floating around in your water. There is only so much that your shampoo and soap can do to help remove them before you realize that your best option is to install a water softener.

Hard water leaves a residue on your skin that irritates it and makes it dry, and no lotion or soap will help you, because it has blocked your pores. This hard water tarnishes your skin in the same way that it leaves those pesky water spots on your glassware. And if your hair products just aren’t cutting it anymore, it may be due to the extra minerals left behind.

If you’re starting to notice stains around the drains in your home and spots on your glassware, it may be time to look into the real cause - hard water. Instead of continuing to call the plumber, have your water tested for its hardness and look into getting a good water softener to help in your home. This not only helps your glassware, clothes, body, and plumbing, but it also helps prolong the life of your appliances. Over time, the cost of an in-home water softener will save you a lot of money and stress.

Call Advanced Water Solutions for a free water evaluation today at 805-263-1542!