Getting the Gray Out

For temporary help, choose a special additive for your laundry. They bind to the hardness minerals, softening the water. This is a quick solution, but unfortunately, a non-lasting one as those additives drain away. When your laundry is rinsed in hard water, some of the additives’ benefits are negated.

A water softener provides a permanent solution. It removes the hard water minerals from your water and laundry. You can purchase a water softener at any big box store and install it yourself with a little plumbing know-how.

Easy Water Test

To start, be sure you actually have hard water. Request a free test strip then use our easy step-by-step tool that helps you figure out the best system for your home.

And water softeners help you save money too by making your appliances more efficient and saving on cleaning supplies. You then have a few more dollars to buy more little black dresses for your closet.

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Here in the United States, we enjoy some of the safest water in the world. But 85 percent of households in America are suffering from a significant water problem, and many homeowners don’t even know it.

The United States’ Water Issue

The issue is hard water. Hard water contains high concentrations of calcium and magnesium. As water trickles through rocks, limestone deposits and soil, it picks up these minerals. Your home’s water tap may pick up a lot of those same minerals, depending on how long the water travels through the ground before reaching your home. Homeowners in six metro areas experience the hardest water conditions: Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Tampa.

But even if you don’t live in those areas, you may experience some form of hard water. Each city has a “number.” That number is grains per gallon (gpg) and will determine if you live in a slightly hard, moderately hard, hard, very hard or extremely hard water area. A grain is defined as 17.1 milligrams of calcium carbonate dissolved in one liter of water. Hard water is about 7 gpg or higher. So, for example, if you have moderately hard water your gpg is 3-7 but extremely hard water would be 15+ gpg. Check out your area’s gpg category here.

Hard Water Signs

If your home is in a hard water area, how can you be sure it is affecting your family? Here are some signs: dull hair dull and dry skin; spotty drinking glasses; itchy, faded and dingy clothing. You may have noticed higher energy bills. That’s because your water heater uses up to 29 percent more energy with hard water. Your plumbing and appliances may be suffering too. Scale buildup can lead to clogged pipes and lower water pressure. That same scale buildup also decreases the efficiency of water-using appliances and reduces their lifespan by up to 50 percent.

How Hard Is Your Water

This may be the first time you’ve ever heard that your home may have hard water. A permanent solution for hard water is a water softener. To begin fixing your hard water problem, request a free water test that will determine your gpg. From there, we can help you identify the right system for your home with a Whirlpool Water Softener.

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The Dingy Clothing Culprit

That clothing discoloration is just one indication that your home may have hard water. Faded colors, stiff and weakened fabrics are other tell tale signs. And those symptoms come with a cost. You may find yourself washing clothes more often to fix the problem, but that just leads to increased soap use. Ironically, hard water lessens soap effectiveness by up to 50 percent, so additional washes simply increase your costs.

When added to your laundry, special additives provide a quick, temporary solution. They bind to the hardness minerals and soften the water during the wash cycle. However, those additives are drained away with the wash water, leaving your clothes to be rinsed in hard water and undoing some of the additives’ benefits.

So what can you do to rid your home, and your clothing, of the underlying problem for good?

Protecting Those Back-to-School Clothes

A water softener, which removes the hard water minerals from your water, helps keep those expensive back-to-school clothing pristine while decreasing household cleaning solution costs by 40 percent annually.

To get started with a permanent solution, pick up a test strip from your nearest retailer, which will confirm if you have hard water. Once you know that answer, our easy questionnaire helps you determine the best water softener solution for your home. For example, how many loads of laundry do you do in a week? Once your new water softener is in place, we hope that number decreases, even with all those additional clothes that come with a new school year.

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From your pipes and appliances to your hair and skin, hard water touches just about everything in your home. Because water is involved in most of your daily routines, the effects of hard water are felt everywhere—your wallet included. In the short term the costs seem negligible, but over the course of a year they add up. Multiply that over a water softener’s lifespan, and you’re well beyond pocket change.

Hard water affects your wallet in four main areas. By using a water softener, a household can estimate these approximate savings over the course of a year:

1. Cleaning and personal care (50% reduction in purchases of soap, lotion, detergent, etc.): $450 saved with soft water
2. Gas and electric use (heat loss due to scale): $60 saved with soft water
3. Washable items (clothes, towels, linens): $200 saved with soft water
4. Plumbing and appliances (repair and replacement): $90 saved with soft water

Total potential savings per year: $800¹

In 365 days, the little things do add up quickly. But hard water also has a big impact on your major water-using appliances. If you have hard water, you can expect to lose 30% to 50% of an appliance’s projected lifespan. Below is a look at the most common appliances and how they’re impacted by hard water.

According to a study completed by the Water Quality Association, by using soft water in your home, you won’t have to replace major appliances as often or pay for costly maintenance visits nearly as regularly.

But I already have a water softener

Like other appliances, water softeners don’t last forever. Age and daily wear and tear take a toll, lessening the softener’s efficiency and contributing to higher household costs over time. If you’re curious about whether you’re due for an upgrade, you can review some common indicators. Otherwise, here are some simple steps to keep your water softener working longer and more efficiently.

¹ Based on data from the Water Quality Association and a comparison of softeners manufactured since 2001.

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