WATER QUALITY CONDITIONERS

Does My Water Need Conditioning?

Majority of homes would benefit from some form of water conditioning. Water conditioning is the process of removing minerals, contaminants, and/or chemicals from water. Homes supplied by a private well will almost always have excess minerals as well as other contaminants and possibly chemicals. Even homes supplied from municipal sources tend to have excess chemicals and can even have old pipes leaching heavy metals into their water. Delaware Plumbing Professionals is your local expert in diagnosing and solving your home’s problem water.

Finding out what kind of problems lurk in your water is easy and usually very affordable. A water sample from your home can be collected and sent to a lab to test for various contaminants. Different labs have different capabilities and testing can be done for different strains of bacteria, heavy metals, minerals, pH, chemicals, and total dissolved solids (TDS).

You can diagnose some water problems from the visual symptoms in and around your plumbing:

– Hard water

• Build-up of white scale around where water exits your faucets and where water pools and is allowed to evaporate
• Dry skin and brittle hair after showers from the hardness stripping your skin and hair of its natural oils
• Soap scum in your bath tubs and showers from the hardness interacting with your soaps
• Need for excessive amounts of detergents and soaps for your clothes, dishes, and showers

– Iron

• Even low amounts of iron can leave rusty red, orange, or brown stains around your plumbing and in your clothes
• Heavier concentrations of iron can clog up fixtures and mechanical components of your plumbing system

– Other minerals or chemicals in your water

• Sulfur in your water supply can result in a “rotten egg” smell
• Chlorine gives off the distinctive “pool” smell and taste. Public water can vary greatly in the amount of chlorine in your water
• Most minerals and contaminants can alter the smell and taste of your water

Every Delaware Plumbing Professionals service truck is equipped with a water conditioning test kit to test for hardness, Iron, pH, and TDS. These are the causes of the most common nagging water problems found in homes in our area. We conduct the tests right in front of you in your home and provide you with all the options you have to solve your problem water.

How Can Delaware Plumbing Professionals Help My Water Quality Problems?

There are many different systems available to solve different water quality problems. Delaware Plumbing Professionals can provide an array of these systems depending on your home’s individual needs. Here are some of the more common water conditioning systems for problem water in our area:

• Water Softeners: Water softeners live up to their name by removing the hardness minerals (Calcium and Magnesium) to soften your water. Soft water helps to keep your skin from drying after bathing and prevents build-up of soap scum and scale. Water softeners use Sodium Chloride or Potassium Chloride to get rid of hardness
• “Salt-Free Softeners”: So-called “salt-free softeners” don’t actually soften the water, but instead temporarily change the structure of the Calcium and Magnesium in your water. If you are concerned with adding Sodium in your water, a better alternative is using Potassium Chloride with a traditional softener instead of using a “Salt-free softener.”
• Reverse Osmosis (RO): Reverse osmosis is the cutting edge of filtering out impurities from your water. RO systems should be used in conjunction with a water softener for the whole home. These point-of-use systems can get your water down to 0 parts per million of dissolved solids, in other words they provide you with pure water.
• Ultra-Violet (UV) Light: UV light is used in water systems that are susceptible to bacterial intrusion. Every private well should have a UV light system, even just as a preventative measure if no bacteria was detected on your latest water test. The UV light kills bacteria before it can travel to the fixtures in your home.
• Iron Water Conditioners: Iron conditioners are necessary when your water has heavy concentrations of iron. Untreated, this water will usually gunk up your plumbing system and causes problems all around the house from the well pump system to your clothes washer to your shower. Heavy iron concentrations can be difficult to correct and require professional expertise to correct.
• Taste & Odor Conditioners: When your water just has a distinct smell or taste or you’re looking to get the chlorine out of your water, a taste and odor conditioner might be all you need. These conditioners are basically big “Brita” filters with specialized carbon to remove unwanted tastes and smells from the water to all your fixtures.
• Sediment Filters: Water (especially from a private well) can sometimes carry chunks of debris into your home. Sediment filters are usually the first filter after water comes into your home and protects other conditioners from unnecessary damage and use.

Delaware Plumbing Professionals is your local expert for correcting your problem water and addressing any problems with your plumbing that was damaged by your water.