The Hard Water Solution
For over 50 years, Magnolia Plumbing has proudly served the Washington DC/Baltimore metropolitan area. Our trained and certified staff is constantly evolving to efficiently meet the challenges of the residential and commercial plumbing markets. Although new technologies have been developed there are certain plumbing challenges that will always plague residential and commercial plumbing alike. One such issue is hard water and mineral build up.
The metropolitan Washington DC/Baltimore area is no stranger to hard water and mineral build up. Whether you are a resident in Kensington, MD or Chantilly, VA chances are your household water is hard. When water is pumped from the earth it comes in contact with a variety of mineral deposits. Water has the properties present to dissolve these minerals. Calcium and magnesium are heavily present in the soil in this part of the United States. In most instances, the calcium and magnesium levels in our water are not high enough to affect the taste or produce a distinct odor. The levels are high enough to cause calcium buildup in piping, showers, and sinks as well as create a thin, slimy film when put in contact with dish soap.
Magnolia Plumbing may not be able to get rid of hard water in your home or commercial space but we do have the technology to alleviate high levels of calcium and magnesium. The solution to hard water is either to filter the water by reverse osmosis in or through the use a water softener. The installation of filtration systems in residential homes is extremely expensive and is usually only reserved for commercial spaces.
The technology behind a water softener is quite simplistic and perfect for your home. Water is circulated through a prism that replaces the water calcium and magnesium ions present with sodium ions. Since sodium is not responsive to piping material and does not react poorly with soap, both of the effects of hard water are resolved. The filter is filled with plastic beads that are charged with sodium ions. This matrix of bead is called zeolite. When sodium ions come in contact with magnesium and calcium they swap places. Once the zeolite has lost its sodium ions, the filtration system will be filled with nothing but traces of calcium and magnesium. To regenerate the zeolite, the beads are soaked in a brine solution of salt. Once the beads have been regenerated, the calcium and magnesium that once collected on the beads is flushed out a drain along with the remainder of the solution.