What are the different options available to treat hard water?

Australia is running out of water. So what does the government do to keep everybody’s water flowing?

While bore water is available to keep our supply going, it comes with many minerals like calcium and magnesium. Water with high mineral content can be a disaster for water pipes and tapware in people’s homes.

I've seen homes in Western Australia that are only weeks old, and the bathrooms are so coated and covered in mineral that you'd swear they hadn't been cleaned for ten years.

This is very upsetting for a lot of customers.

If there’s one way to break a lady’s heart, it’s to destroy her brand new bathroom or washing machine with hard water scale in just a few short weeks of using hard water.

Softening water is a big priority for many people.

What can you do about it?

Can You Use Filtration For Hard Water Treatment?

The truth is, water filters just don't do it. The mineral is so fine that the water just travels straight through.

Even if you put a few water filters in a row and push the water through, the mineral will just go straight through with the water. The mineral is just too fine.

Here are a few options to turn hard water into soft water and get the mineral out.

Option 1: Use a Large Reverse Osmosis System

The Reverse Osmosis System will split the water as it comes through and take all of the mineral out.

You’ll get a litre of waste down the drain and a litre of pure water in your tank.

No more hard water calcium! No more hard water stains on the shower glass.

Water Storage Pressure Tank to suit Reverse Osmosis Water Filter systems along with that RO system, but there will be plenty of water for the whole house.

Once the water is in the tank, you’ll need a pump on the other side to pump the water through the house.

Now that the water has no chlorine, there is a risk of bugs and other bacteria growing in there, so you’ll need some UV or different ways of stopping that from happening.

Reverse osmosis systems do remove minerals but can be very expensive, take up a lot of room, require maintenance and waste a lot of water.

The truth is that treating hard water with a reverse osmosis system isn’t the best way to go, and hardly any of our customers have ever gone for it as it’s just too expensive.

Option 2: Use a Hard Water Softener

Hard water softeners remove calcium, magnesium and other metals, extending the life of the plumbing by reducing or eliminating the scale build-up in pipes and fittings.

Water softeners work and can usually take out about 95% of the mineral if it’s a top quality filter.

You’ll usually pay anywhere between $2000 to $5000 depending on what sort of softener you buy and the size. This ultimately depends on the size of your home.

The Challenge With Water Softeners

The water comes into the softener, and there's a cylinder inside full of media.

The media has a charge on it and it acts a little bit like a magnet.

As the mineral is coming through the cylinder, it will stick to that media, a bit like a magnet.

As soon as the media attracts all the minerals, it releases a lot of salt into the water.

If you’ve got a lot of mineral coming through, the water can get a bit slimy, so you need to put a Reverse Osmosis System under your sink to clean up the water again and take that sodium out, so it's okay for you to drink.

Most people don’t like dealing with the salt, and the gardens aren't happy about sodium in the water either.

As you can see, water softeners can be a lot of work, but they will keep your shower glass clean.

Hard Water Conditioners

Most people go for what we call a cold water conditioner - like the Limetron Hard Water Conditioner.

This is one of our favourite products that we import to Australia because they work so well and have been sold in 50 countries for over 50 years.

It’s time tested, extremely affordable, and they work a treat.

How Hard Water Conditioners Work

The Limetron will treat the water, but it won't take the mineral out.

Removing calcium from water isn’t truly necessary because our bodies need calcium, and it’s used in 170 bodily functions every day.

Instead of removing it from the water, it converts the hard water ions into little crystals that wash down the drain instead of sticking to everything.

When the conditioned water evaporates, you can still see a little bit of white here and there on your glass surfaces, but if it’s so thick that you can’t wipe it off when you are doing your routine cleaning.

The Limetron Water Conditioner is a very cheap alternative to sort out the mineral in this country.

Click here to check out all of our Hard Water Solutions and contact us if have any questions.