Hard Water Could Be Damaging Your Appliances

As you look closely at your facets or shower heads in your home you may notice a white, crusty substance. It’s the same culprit for your dull hair or spotted dishes and glasses — hard water.

Unlike soft water, hard water is full of minerals. It’s usually not bad for your health, but it can wreak havoc on your appliances if it is not dealt with properly. When minerals like calcium and magnesium in your water are heated up, they leave the water and instead encrust on your showerhead as a mineral deposit.

So what does hard water actually do to your appliances? Besides the buildup that is not so easy on the eyes, it can really bog down efficiency. For example, the hard water buildup in your water heater is a poor conductor of heat, making it much harder to heat the water. Over time, the minerals will wear down your appliances faster.

If you have problems with your appliances, you can always call a professional like the those at Peter’s Appliance to get things working again. But when it comes to hard water there are preventative steps you can take to remove buildup and keep your appliances working smoothly.

Vinegar

Vinegar is one way to remove some of the hard water build up you may have. Hard water is mostly made of calcium, which is highly reactive with acids like vinegar. Soaking faucets or other fixtures in hot, natural vinegar will dissolve calcium deposits in about an hour.

Remove Pipe Buildup

Hard water can also build up in pipes creating clogs, reducing flow, and increasing stress on your pipes and fixtures. The good news is you can remove this buildup with a few simple steps! First you’ll want to fill pots of water, shut off your water, and empty your pipes. Then you can use a chemicals treatment or a mixture of vinegar and baking soda to clean buildup from your pipes. Wait for the solution to do its job, then pour boiling water down each drain. You can find detailed step by step instructions for this in the link above here.

Removing Soap Scum, Spots or Film

Soap and hard water build up are a bad combination, and can lead to tough-to-remove soap scum. To remove this, try one-part apple cider vinegar and three parts filtered water to remove.  You can also wipe down your glasses with lemon juice or white vinegar to remove spots. If they are particularly bad, try adding a little bit of salt to either liquid to create a spot removing scrub.

A More Permanent Solution

These home remedies are effective, but only for so long. If you have hard water, you may want to consider installing a water treatment system. A whole-home softening system is the only way to completely eliminate hard water from your home and keep your appliances running more effectively and without build-up.  For any of your installation needs, or questions about hard water give the professionals at Peter’s Appliance a call: 801-754-9888