Do I Have Hard Water?

If you’ve noticed a white, powdery residue on your kitchen appliances, faucets, or showerheads, chances are you’re dealing with hard water. Hard water, caused by minerals like calcium and magnesium, can lead to various issues in your home. Let’s explore the signs to watch out for and how to address this concern.

Signs of Hard Water:

• White Residue – If you see white film or buildup on your kitchen appliances, faucets, showerheads, pots, pans, or drinking glasses, it is most likely due to hard water. While not harmful to your health, this can be difficult to remove or may even permanently stain your fixtures.
  
• Dry Skin/Hair – Soap scum is difficult to remove if you have hard water, so your hair and skin become dry due to leftover residue from using soap and shampoo.
  
• Color on Clothes Looking Dull – These minerals can damage your clothes by causing them to dull and even stain and make them not look as vibrant or clean as they used to be.
  
• Frequent Repairs To Appliances, Fixtures, and Pipes – Hard water minerals build scale inside your appliances, plumbing fixtures, and pipes. This scale build-up causes blockages and rust to occur that require professional attention and often causes them to break down or stop working and therefore need replacement sooner than they usually should.

• High Hot Water Heating Costs – Hard water scale build-up in your hot water tank not only affects its ability to operate efficiently, but ultimately, if there is significant blockage, it can cause it to not work properly or even stop working altogether.

Issues that hard water can cause in your home include:

• Your home not looking as clean as you’d like
• Forcing appliances to work harder than needed (and therefore wearing out faster too)
• Consuming more energy (resulting in higher utility and water bills).

Hard water can end up costing you more than you think. Water softeners and whole-house water filtration are easy solutions to help improve the water quality in your home. They will not only help improve your water quality but can also help prolong your plumbing fixtures and protect the pipes in your home by removing and preventing scale and corrosion.

If you want the benefits of a water softener in your home, Beacon Home Services can help. Our experienced plumbers are just a phone call away in these Northern Virginia counties: Prince William County, Fairfax County, Loudon County, Arlington, Alexandria, as well as Montgomery County, Maryland and we can meet all your water quality and water softener needs.