You may have noticed white buildup on the faucets or shower heads in your home. That buildup is caused by minerals dissolved in your tap water. When there are a lot of minerals in the water, it’s considered “hard”.
Calgary’s water is famously hard because of the amount of calcium and magnesium in the water in the Bow and Elbow Rivers. Unfortunately, hard water can cause problems with your home’s hot water heater and plumbing.
Hard water can even cause buildup in your plumbing system’s pipes, which over time can cause clogs and backups.
What Is Hard Water?
Hard water is water containing a higher amount of dissolved minerals than is typical, and Calgary’s drinking water is known to be hard. Our water comes from the Bow and Elbow Rivers, which are fed by creeks and streams that start in the mountains west of town. These dissolve minute amounts of rock as they flow down the mountains, and the minerals in that dissolved rock are what make our water hard.
How Does Hard Water Affect Your Plumbing System?
Hard water can cause all kinds of issues with your plumbing:
Clogged Pipes Due to Mineral Deposits
If your home was built in the early to mid-1900s, its original drain pipes were probably made of cast iron or galvanized steel. Both of these types of metal drain piping have rough surfaces, which make it easier for minerals dissolved in wastewater to solidify onto the pipe walls.
Over decades, this process can cause large amounts of mineral buildup, or “scale”. As the mineral deposits get larger and larger, they start to snag soap scum, food particles, and other debris, often leading to clogged drains and backups.
Reduced Water Pressure
Minerals can build up in the pipes that bring water into your home as well. If there’s a significant amount of buildup in your water lines, water has less room to flow through, which you may notice as inadequate water flow or reduced water pressure.
Buildup and Damage to Fixtures
If you look closely at your taps and shower heads, you’ll probably notice white buildup on them. These are places where dissolved minerals in our hard water can solidify and cause problems. Just like mineral buildup inside water pipes can cause reduced flow, mineral buildup on your shower heads and taps will reduce the amount of water flow.
Mineral buildup can occur in every other fixture attached to your plumbing system. When you turn a tap on or off, or adjust its temperature, you’re adjusting a cartridge inside the fixture. Mineral buildup inside a cartridge can cause it to stop working properly. And as you’d imagine, mineral buildup inside your hot water tank will make it less efficient as well.
How To Get Rid of Hard Water
The best way to get rid of hard water is to install a water softener system in your home. There are several different technologies used, but all water softeners work to remove dissolved minerals from your water. This helps prevent all the problems described above, plus you’ll notice cleaner laundry and dishes, and even more luxurious baths and showers!
While water softening systems are big investments, many people feel the benefits are worth it! Call us for all your Calgary drain cleaning services.
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