Help please. Hard water?

[jewell76]

I've been researching for awhile now and still am unsure what to do. Was told by a plumber who had our water tested that our water is very hard. I have problems with dry skin and color fading from my hair (fast). In my research it sounds like water softeners (whole house) can be just as bad if not worse than hard water issues. Any suggestions/advice? Do we need a whole house filter? What kind? Where do I start?

Thanks in advance
Julie

[Andy CWS]

What do you mean by "my research" and what do you mean by "just as bad if not worse"? My suggestion is to get your water properly tested and post results. I can't think of any proper treatment that makes matters worse. It is impossible to say you need a filter or anything without knowing what the issues are. I am not familiar with water changing the color of hair.

Do you have city or well water?

[jewell76]

reply to Andy

Hi Andy,

According to what I have read it seems that a water softener is dangerous to drink. Where do you suggest we get out water tested? A plumber had it tested and said that everything was fine but the water is very hard. The issues are that everyone in my house has dry itchy skin, our hair looks and feels like we swim in a chlorinated pool frequently and it smells of chlorine. We have city water. Went to Lowes today and they recommended a central water filtration system by Whirlpool. Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you!

[Akpsdvan]

Oh, let me think.......... There are those that say that eating meat is bad... and then there are those that say eating eggs are bad..

Name a topic and one will find those that say it is bad.

On the topic of softeners, know any one that has one in your area? A friend? see if you could do a load of wash, take a shower... you are thinking of a softener and would like first hand testing of the softened water.


The only real challenge with Lowes and the other Box stores... cheap units to be replaced every few years.. no one to do service work on the units that they sell.

I am not saying to drop thousands on a brand name.. when there might be an independent dealer that would do it cheaper. Shop around for good quality and not just low price.

[pawaterguy]

If you want to properly treat it, install a dechlorinator to remove the chlorine from the whole house and follow it with a filter and then a softener. If you're concerned with sodium in the water (a non-issue unless you're elderly and on blood pressure meds or have heart problems) then install an RO for drinking water. It will remove the sodium along with most other dissolved solids. 2 things work against you with your city water where your skin is concerned. Chlorine...obviously will dry skin out. Hard water clogs the pores with the calcium in it. When you switch to soft water you'll notice your pores open when that calcium is removed and your natural oils will come out...at first you'll find your skin to feel "slippery" or "oily" until you get used to it. Assuming you're not over-soaping which is common with new softener owners as well. There's my 2 cents. Just don't install a softener without protecting it with a dechlor unit. Removing chlorine will help to some extent with skin issues but also protects your softener from its harmful effects. You can generally figure half the life of the softener resin will be lost to chlorine damage if you don't remove it. I've rebedded town water units in as little as 4 years already because of chlorine turning the resin to mush and breaking it up. That's an extreme case...but it happens.