Search for labs at Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program. Home water softeners, also called ion exchange units, are appliances that remove calcium, magnesium, and other minerals from drinking water. Resin beads inside the softener trap the calcium and magnesium and exchange them for sodium or potassium. Once the resin beads become full of calcium and magnesium, a highly-concentrated salt or potassium solution removes the calcium and magnesium from the beads.
After passing through the beads, the resulting chloride solution becomes a waste stream that goes down the drain and ultimately into the environment. Maintaining your softener will keep your water quality stable. This will help prevent issues with corrosion. In addition:. A water softener that uses sodium chloride salt increases the amount of sodium in the water you drink at home. Consider the following if you have a home softener:.
The calcium, iron, and magnesium removed by softening are not harmful and may be beneficial sources of essential elements needed by the body. Removing them from your water may mean you will have to get more of them from your diet. Water systems using groundwater as a source are concerned with water hardness, since as water moves through soil and rock it dissolves small amounts of naturally-occurring minerals and carries them into the groundwater supply.
Water is a great solvent for calcium and magnesium, so if the minerals are present in the soil around a water-supply well, hard water may be delivered to homes. Water hardness varies throughout the United States. In areas of the country where the water is relatively hard see map below , industries might have to spend money to soften their water, as hard water can damage equipment.
Hard water can even shorten the life of fabrics and clothes does this mean that high-school students who live in areas with hard water keep up with the latest fashions since their clothes wear out faster? As the image of the inside of a water-supply pipe shows, long-term movement of hard water through a pipe can result in what is called scale buildup.
Just as in the human body where blood vessels can be reduced in inside diameter due to cholesterol buildup, water pipes can gradually close up resulting in less water movement through the pipe and a lowering of water pressure.
Colors represent streamflow from the hydrologic-unit area. Water hardness is based on major-ion chemistry concentrations. Major-ion chemistry in groundwater is relatively stable and generally does not change over time.
Although this map illustrates data from , these data have been found to be accurate and useful in current assessments. Water hardness was one water-quality parameter studied; results are shown in the map below.
Hardness is a property of water that is not a health concern, but it can be a nuisance. Hard water can cause mineral buildup in plumbing, fixtures, and water heaters, and poor performance of soaps and detergents. Hard water was prevalent in the east-central and western United States, reflecting the distribution of carbonate aquifers and aquifers with relatively high concentrations of dissolved solids.
Want to know more about hardness of water? Follow me to the Chloride, Salinity, and Dissolved Solids website! Looking at water, you might think that it's the most simple thing around. Pure water is practically colorless, odorless, and tasteless. But it's not at all simple and plain and it is vital for all life on Earth. Where there is water there is life, and where water is scarce, life has to struggle or just "throw in the towel. We need to take the statement "Water is the universal solvent" with a grain of salt pun intended.
Of course it cannot dissolve everything, but it does dissolve more substances than any other liquid, so the term fits pretty well. Water's solvent properties affect all life on Earth, so water is universally important to all of us.
Geological Survey to provide a nationally uniform basis for continuously assessing the quality of U. Stations generally are at the downstream end of hydrologic accounting units in order to measure the quantity and quality of water flowing from the units Conversely, removal of these components through advanced processes has the potential to increase sodium levels in the drinking water, which could be harmful to those who have high blood pressure.
When it comes to your body, soft water may not be the superior cleaner. The minerals in hard water give soap something to cling to, so it can easily rinse away. The trade-off? Mineral build-up in your shower, called scale. Some say taking a shower in soft water makes their skin feel slippery. Truth: Rainwater, as it falls, is actually soft. This natural water flow becomes hard, as it works its way through and across the ground, picking up minerals on its way to join waterways and eventually into the ground to replenish aquifers.
Groundwater is typically much harder than surface water because it is in contact for extended periods of time with underground rock formations like limestone. Sign up for weekly water tips Sign Up.
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