"Hi, I recently purchased a 12 year old home in Central Indiana that came with an water softener (waterboss model). The owners claimed it to be working during the closing. When we moved into the house, we filled the softener with salt and allowed the softener to regenerate. Then we tested the water from several faucets and sinks using a standard water softener test strip and it shows that the water is hard (between 180-250 ppm). However, at the same time the water feels quite slippery, esp. after washing with soap and the dishwasher absolutely leaves no scales. Also I used the common test suggested in the web : taking a bottle, filling it halfway with water, adding dishwasher liquid and shaking to check for foam. That seems to wok pretty well too, the mixture foams up quickly and stays like that. Should I replace my water softener ? Any other tests to check ? Just want to ensure that it is not working before buying a new one. Any pointers will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!"

We hear somewhat conflicting information in your inquiry, so we find ourselves at somewhat of a loss for clear response. 'Slippery' feeling water and the ability of water to generate soap suds easily plus no evidence of scaling or deposits leads us to believe the water softener functions as it should, but the fact that the standard water softener test strip still showed 'hard water' leaves us a bit puzzled.

You may wish to do one (or more) of several things at this point:

1) If you have not done so already, you should consider testing your water before it goes into the softener and after it exits the softener using the test strips you currently have. If the strips show you have hard water during both tests, then either the strips do not work or the softener does not function properly.

At that point we would suggest re-testing the water (before and after the softener), again, but this time using a different brand of water hardness test strips. If the water reads equally 'hard' both times then you can probably rule out the test strips as the problem.

2) Since you expressed other water quality concerns, you may want to re-test using a more comprehensive drinking water test kit such as the SenSafe Water Quality Test Kit, WaterSafe Well Water Test Kit, or COMPLETE Water Test Kit which all test for water hardness plus other important water quality parameters.

3) Contract with a well water specialist to come out and look at your well's integrity, test the water, and look at various aspects of your water softener such as valve integrity. Over time the seals in some valves may wear down and allow untreated water to mix with softened water.

Our well water before filtering was high hardness according to the builder when we moved into our new house and we saw that the first time dishes got done. We had SPOTS on all the glasses plates and cups. Then the bathtub junk started and we had lots of scummy caked on stuff that we had to clean out of the showers a lot. SO we put a water filter in and the scummy junk all but disappeared… but water now feels slippery and like it dowes not get all the soap off us when we shower. Is that normal?

After doing a bit of research we found conflicting answers regarding why softened water feels slippery to the touch.

• We read in a Culligan Water (Mid-Missouri) article that soft water does not have ‘scum’ (calcium & magnesium ions bonded to soap particles) that gets deposited on your skin and since your skin therefore has no ‘scum’ on it to cause friction, water then feels slippery.
   
• On a Collective Science Q & A Site we read that the slippery feeling comes from the depositing of soap ions that would ordinarily have bonded with the calcium and magnesium that the water softener took out. Apparently in the absence of those metals the skin’s weakly positive charge becomes a magnet for negatively charged, free-floating soap particles. Therefore, the deposits on skin make water seem slippery.

Which do we believe? Although both answers seem somewhat plausible, we believe that the first answer has a lot more merit. Why do we believe that? Quite simply, since soft water fails to leave deposits on other surfaces that possess weakly positive charge, why would it selectively leave deposits on the skin?

Testing for water hardness (aka: total hardness)

The simplest water test method for hardness involves using a dip-n-read testing product such as the WaterWorks Total Hardness Test Strip. Just dip the indicator test pad into a water sample, remove it, and match the developed color to a corresponding color on the product’s color chart.

Will too much or too little hardness hurt me?

We have yet to hear of any cases where overly hard water negatively affected the health of a person and, coincidentally, we have also not heard of a case where softened water negatively affected a person’s health.

Hard water WILL, however, shorten the life expectancy of plumbing, water heaters, refrigerator ice makers, washers, and any other devices that use (or transport) water in your home. Oh, and it will increase the amount of cleaning you will have to do in the shower stall to get the ‘soap scum’ off of, well, pretty much every surface.

In this day and age where virtually, and sometimes literally, every penny counts in a family’s budget, finding ways to save money matters — but when it comes to investing in your family’s safety through the use of a water filter, make certain you purchase and install the correct filter(s) for the job at hand!

While a water softener typically does have the ability to remove some amount of dissolved iron from water, the act of removing iron can do serious damage to the mineral bed designed specifically to reduce water hardness. If pressed to remove iron on a regular basis the damage can eventually add up… to the need for an expensive service call by water filter technician.

Another way to think about it: Asking a water softener to do anything other than remove water hardness lessens the device’s water softening efficiency, interferes with the proper operation of the device, typically causes damage to the device, results in higher than normal consumption of salt by the device, and may result in your having to pay someone to come out and repair your softener after its adsorption media gets plugged up with iron.

Pick the right tool for the job at-hand

When attempting to turn a screw would you A) Hit the screw w/ a rolled up newspaper; B) Use an app on you iPhone; or C) Turn the screw with a screwdriver. Hopefully you chose ‘C’ just now.

The same sort of logic applies to water filters, as well. Filter Water, an online vendor of drinking water filters we recommend on a regular basis carries several types of water softeners and homeowners can install separate inline iron, sediment, multi-filter, etc. cartridges to work in conjunction with the water softeners Filter Water carries.

On the topic of iron removal, however, the experts at Filter Water suggested, “To treat up to 3 ppm ferrous or ferric iron (metal iron), use Pentek RFFE20-BB Iron Reduction Filter in a Big Blue 20×4.5 Housing. If iron is above 3 ppm or if it is bacteria-based, use Iron and Hydrogen Sulfide Whole House System up to 15 ppm. If iron level is above 15 ppm, or for line larger than 1″, look at Commercial Iron Removal Systems.”

A glass of water containing that low an amount of sodium qualifies for the US Food & Drug Administration’s “very low sodium” category.

Why do water softeners contain salt and/or sodium?

The majority of water softeners utilize a resin bed, which you can see at their website, comprised of negatively charged plastic beads packed with positively charged sodium ions. As source water passes through the bed of beads, calcium and magnesium ions with stronger positive charges disrupt the sodium ions’ bonds with the beads and form their own bonds with the plastic beads.

Eventually after a water softener operates for a while the supply of sodium ions in the resin bed gets depleted and when that happens the resin bed must get recharged using a concentrated salt brine solution that more or less overpowers the collected calcium and magnesium and causes them to become dislodged from the plastic beads. Sodium molecules then take their place on the resin beads and the magnesium, calcium and excess sodium molecules get flushed out of the system.

After a properly completed flushing and rinsing, a water softener operating properly ought not produce water that has a salty taste since all of the actual salt (NaCl) should have gone out as waste water during back washing.

Measuring water hardness

Scientists typically measure water hardness using one of two scales: Grains per Gallon (GPG) and Parts per Million (ppm). One grain per gallon of hardness equals approximately 17.1 ppm of hardness.

You may also see ppm expressed as milligrams per liter (mg/L) in some literature.

Rating categories for water hardness

As a general rule,

• Water that contains less than 1 GPG or 17.1 ppm hardness gets labeled as ‘soft’.
   
• Water that contains between 1 and 3.5 GPG, or 17.1 to 60 ppm, hardness gets labeled as ‘slightly hard’.
   
• Water that contains between 3.5 and 7 GPG, or 60 to 120 ppm, hardness gets labeled as ‘moderately hard’.
   
• Water that contains between 7 and 10.5 GPG, or 120 to 180 ppm, hardness gets labeled as ‘hard’.
   
• Water that contains between greater than 10.5 GPG, or 180 ppm, hardness gets labeled as ‘very hard’.
   

“I want to start a mobile car wash for car dealer and i thought if i used a water softer i could cut the time by not drying them .with a softer it would not leave spots would that be a true statement or ? thank you .”

Believe it or not, ‘Rob’ posed a rather interesting question: Will removing all, or most, of water hardness eliminate water spots and possibly prevent him from needing to dry the vehicles her washes? Only experts at dodge dealership near me can give you the right advice and suggestion.

We suspect not since water softeners will usually only reduce/remove calcium and magnesium levels in water… and water may contain other items that could wind up as ‘spots’ on a car not dried in a traditional manner.

Additionally, we believe some spots seen in recently washed cars may have resulted from ingredients in the soaps, detergents, cleaners, etc. contained in the car wash concentrate added to the water.

Oh, and let us not forget that airborne dust, pollen, etc. could very easily land on a recently washed car and find itself attached to the surface as the water droplet it landed in evaporates.

So, while softer water could certainly reduce the harshness of the appearance of water spots, we do not believe it will totally eliminate the need for drying vehicles after washings.

Have you looked into the different types of car cleaner concentrates available on the market these days? We seem to recall hearing about several that claim to leave fewer water spots than other brands. We don’t recall the exact brands, but the ones below seemed to have good reputations.

“My girl and me just bought a new place but the water well it sucks. Got white buildup and other colors of stuff building up in the sinks and the water kit we bought, that sensafe one on your site, says we got all sorts of problems like metals too. A friend says we need a filter and a softener but I don’t know if they make a all-in-one type filter softener thing… but my girl says we gotta do something, so can you help?”

Thank you for your question Marquis and it sounds to us like you and your girlfriend have a real mess on your hands when it comes to the quality of your water.

Question: Well water or city water?

If well water, then we suggest looking in the phone book for a certified well contractor and having them come out to look at the condition of your well.

If city water we suggest contacting your local water department and requesting the latest copy of their Consumer Confidence Report, an annually published document that discusses how good (or bad) a job the department did at keeping its water quality readings in line with Federal Guidelines.

In either case, certainly get your water tested by a qualified water testing laboratory before investing – and yes, we said investing – in a water filtration and/or water conditioner for your home. Otherwise you may run the risk of purchasing the incorrect unit for your specific water remediation requirements.

In other words you may buy the wrong tool for the job… and that could mean a whole lot of wasted money and continued water quality troubles.

Cost of combination water filter & water softener

Definitely not cheap, but if you have drinking water in desperate need of improvement then investing in a whole house water filter & water softener system such as the Whole House Filter and Anti-Scale Conditioner Combo made by Crystal Quest may make sense.

With pricing for the Whole House Filter and Anti-Scale Conditioner Combo (CQE-WH-02136) starting at around $2,900 you really, really, really want to make certain you 1) Need a water filter; 2) Need a water softener; 3) Know for sure that the unit will correct the specific water quality issues that you have.

Moral of the story?

Not all water treatment options will work in every application so before you plop down your hard earned money, get your water tested by a qualified drinking water testing laboratory. If you cannot locate a local laboratory we suggest you consider using the testing services of an accredited mail-in water testing laboratory such as National Testing Labs.

We recently learned that for a limited time only, a company by the name of Nature’s Own Water Care plans to give away free water hardness test strips so people can test their tap/well water for the presence of magnesium and calcium, two naturally occurring minerals in water which can cause ‘problems’ in high concentrations.

Typically people refer to water which contains large amounts of one or both minerals as ‘hard’ and water which contains little of either as ‘soft’.

Why you should care about hard/soft water

Soft water has corrosive tendencies and may cause pitting of some surfaces as it attempts to pull minerals out of them. The majority of people will encounter problems with hard water, though, and not soft water.

Hard water can make clothes feel dingy and scratchy, prevent soaps and detergents from properly bubbling or lathering up, cause fabrics to wear prematurely, increase the need for maintenance work on water heaters and dishwashers, clog pipes with scale deposits, and leave an unpleasant film on people’s skin after a bath or shower.

Why does Nature’s Own Water Care want to give away free hardness test strips?

National and local retailers such as Ace Hardware, Do It Best, Duckwall-Alco, Hy-Vee, Menards, Nuts and Bolts, True Value, Sears, Sutherland Lumber, and Westlake Ace Hardware carry water treatment products manufactured by Nature’s Own Water Care… and Nature’s Own Water Care manufactures chemicals that consumers can use with water softeners purchased at those retailers.

Nature’s Own Water Care providing you with a free water hardness test kit will, in theory, make some folks more inclined to go out and purchase their products in the future.

Salt-free water softeners

Read the following posting on this site for information about salt-free water conditioners.

Popular test kits for water hardness

At one time if you lived in an area and your water contained high levels of elements like calcium and magnesium your only option for water softening systems involved the use of salt-based water softening systems which worked well, but required periodic draining… which meant the discharging of brine water into the environment.

States such as California noticed the damage done to the environment by this unnatural adding of heavily salted water (brine water) and attempted to enact legislation to BAN the sale and use of salt based water softeners. Though not successful as of yet, efforts to get salt-based water conditioners banned continue to this day.

Do Alternative(s) to Salt-Based Water Softeners Exist?

In recent years a ‘new’ technology has emerged which makes it possible to soften water without the use a salt tank. This technology makes use of specially designed media which either absorb the calcium or convert it into a ‘harmless’ form which gets collected and backwashed out of the system at a later date.

Below you will find three examples of salt-free water softening systems:

When last we checked, FilterWater.Com offered FREE SHIPPING on all three units to locations w/in the Continental United States… and given that each unit easily weighs more than 100 pounds, well, that offer of free shipping sounds like a pretty decent deal!

Testing for Water Hardness?

Now you KNOW we can’t let this blog entry come to a close without telling you how you can test the hardness of your water.

Water Hardness Test Strips work well for on-the-spot testing of water hardness and typically cost less than $10 for a bottle of 50 strips.

As a general rule ‘water conditioners’ have pretty much always used salt as a means of removing excess hardness (calcium) from water. Homeowners and businesses experiencing problems with calcium wind up with scale deposits in water lines and crusty deposits on faucets and other bathroom fixtures. Scale in the lines lead to higher heating and energy costs as well as increased usage of cleaning agents/detergents and high repair costs for appliances damaged by constricted water flow.

Certain areas of the United States have put restrictions on the use of salt-based water conditioners because of environmental concerns. Water conditioning units that use salt require discharging and replacing of salt periodically and questions have come up regarding how to properly dispose of the salty wastewater.

Naturally when a problem like this arises, someone comes up with an answer:

Saltless Water Conditioner and Anti-Scale system Eagle A 2000-FG is a new break-through technolgy, designed to remove water hardness without a use of salt. The system is designed to convert calcium in water (which is a main element found in hard water) into calcite crystals of nanometer size, which no longer cause lime deposits. The calcium then is simply rinsed away.

The system also removes existing scale deposits from pipes and heat exchange surfaces, which is called descaling, and can further protect the system from future formation of scale. So, it can pay for itself in days!

Eagle A 2000-FG Anti-Scale Water Conditioner specifications:

+ In First stage, Water flows through a 20″ sediment filter cartridge that removes sediment, silt, sand and dirt. Also extends the life of the filter media and prevent damage.

+ In stage 2, water flows through an Eagle Anti-Scale media tank.

+ In stage 3, water flows through a 20″ solid carbon cartridge that removes volatile organic carbon compounds (VOC’s), insecticides, pesticides and industrial solvents ^*

+ In stage 4, water passes through a .01 micron Ultrafiltration (UF) membrane. Ultrafiltration (UF) is an important purification technology used for the production of high-purity water. UF is effective for the removal of colloids, proteins, bacteria, viruses, parasites, protozoa and pyrogens (e.g., gram-negative bacterial endotoxins), other organic molecules larger than .01 micron, and most other water contaminants known today.

Wastes no water, uses no electricity

^* – if present in water ( source

Whether you live in an area that has banned water conditioners that use salt or not, it seems as though the Eagle A 2000-FG Anti-Scale Water Conditioner offers consumers an interesting option for salt-free water conditioning and filtration.

Below you will find links to replacement filters for the Eagle A 2000-FG Anti-Scale Water Conditioner.

If any of that sounds familiar, the free hardness test strip offer from the makers of a popular brand of water softening salts, Morton, will definitely help you figure out if you have hard water or soft water.

Then, if the test strip indicates that you do actually have hard water, you may want to consider installing a water softener which uses a salt-based (Hence the reason Morton is involved) filtration medium consisting of salt ‘charged’ beads to replace the calcium and magnesium molecules with sodium molecules. Sodium molecules do not come out of solution neraly as readily as calcium and magnesium molecules.

If, by chance, your water requires additional remediation for metals or other unwanted contaminants, you may want to consider installing a reverse osmosis water filtration system which will remove a whole lot more than just calcium and magnesium ions.

One more time… You can get a free hardness test strip from Morton salt by clicking this link.