Soft water can help your home in more ways than one. It can prolong the life of your appliances, enhance the taste of your food, and save you money over time. When you invest in a water softener or filtration system, you can save yourself from dirty dishes, faulty equipment, and flavorless food. Discover the benefits of soft water and learn how to remove hard water stains for good.
Longer Lasting Appliances
Most of your home’s appliances likely require water to function. Think dishwashers, washing machines, air conditioners, and refrigerators. With soft water, your appliances can remain in good health. But, with hard water, you might be doing more harm than good. If you have hard water running through your pipes, it can cause a buildup of calcium and magnesium when heated. For your appliances, this means major inefficiencies. Appliances will require more water to complete their duties, costing you more money. Not to mention, build-ups can cause corrosion which can lead to a shorter lifespan for appliances.
In a Water Quality Association study, researchers found that soft water successfully prolonged the efficiency of water heaters over a 9-month period. Those tested with hard water did not survive the duration of the test due to buildup and clogging. Pipes that run through your kitchen and bathroom can suffer the same effects. The result? Weaker water flow in your sinks and showers and an expensive pipe replacement down the line.
Enhanced flavor of home-cooked foods
One of the easiest ways to detect hard water is by the taste. Magnesium can give your tap water a metallic or bitter flavor whereas the calcium can cause your water to taste milky. When hard water is used to cook, it can leave a foul taste on your rice, pasta, and potatoes. Hard water can also change the chemical makeup of food, making it difficult to cook. This is particularly true for foods containing pectin – a starch naturally found in the cell walls of many fruits, vegetables, and legumes. When cooked in hard water, pectin-containing foods like beans may never soften, even when soaked and boiled for hours. With filters like Culligan’s Reverse Osmosis Systems, you can reduce impurities in your cooking water and better conquer these cooking hurdles. In fact, it may even enhance the taste of your dishes by letting the food’s natural flavors shine.
Less time cleaning
When you load your dishwasher, you expect your dishes to come out looking clean. Unfortunately, hard water can leave dishes and clothes with residue (also known as “soap scum”). On dishes and clothes, you may notice spots. In showers and on sinks, you may notice a thin layer of film. These are all signs of hard water in your home. With soft water, appliances can deliver a cleaner, softer result for your personal items. Better yet, you can spend less time cleaning and less money refilling your soap dispenser.
Wondering how to remove hard water stains from glass, dishes, and clothes for good? Start with a free in-home water test from Culligan. Once you discover the impurities in your water, a Culligan specialist can help pinpoint the best solution for your home. This means you can spend more time enjoying your life and less time (and money) cleaning it up.
