Hard water

[SNRote]

We have extremely hard water. Although it's a pain to deal with and hard on our applicances, etc. Is it harmful? Should we be concerned about what is in the water making it so hard? We have tried all kinds of tricks. We use a Brita pitcher for our drinking water. We installed a salt free system (but I'm not sure I really think it makes a difference). We have had our water lines in our refrigerator/freezer lime completely shut. We change our refrigerator water filter almost every other month. That's expensive. I guess I'm mainly concerned about whether the water is harmful for us.

[pawaterguy]

Your body doesn't really care about it. Your skin cares a little...it clogs your pores. Other than that it's a big issue with appliances, plumbing and soap/detergent use. Remove the hardness (something salt free systems tend NOT to do) and you'll enjoy water that doesn't scale, is better for your skin int eh shower and you'll be able to use much less soaps and detergent and also get clothes cleaner with less wear and tear on them from the wash process allowing you to save on clothes as well. It's also more efficient to heat your water without the scale buildup in the water heater or boiler coil. That scale in a water heater, for example requires more energy to heat "through" and therefor gives you higher heating costs due to that extra energy required to get the heat into the water. Yada yada yada check into a quality softener/conditioning system.

[SNRote]

Great info, thanks! We didn't want to bite the bullet and pay to have plumbing done to install a traditional water softener but I don't think we have any choice. We have replaced our kitchen sink and some faucets in the house. I am surprised (knock on wood) that we haven't had to replace our w/d or hot water heater yet. The lines to the refrigerator water & ice have been limed shut several times. What a pain in the butt!

[pawaterguy]

If/when you get the softener...make sure you drain the water heater to get as much buildup out as possible...and also replace the upper and lower elements (if yours is an electric one) so you're starting from scratch there. You'll be amazed at what your old elements look like.