Water softener. Water conditioner. Same thing, right? Wrong! They are both useful appliances if you want to improve the quality of your water. They just improve it in different ways.
Here’s the quick rundown:
- A water softener removes calcium and magnesium from water. It uses salt for this purpose.
- A water conditioner removes contaminants from water. It does not use salt for this purpose.
Investing in the correct water treatment system for your household or commercial property is important enough to warrant a slightly longer explanation. Let’s take a closer look at what water softeners and water conditioners do differently, so you can decide whether you need neither, one, or both!
What Does a Water Softener Do?
Many earth minerals have already dissolved in water before it reaches your faucet. Magnesium and calcium are two of them. Hard water minerals aren’t known to have adverse health effects. In fact, drinking them may actually be good for you.
The same can’t be said of hard water’s effect on plumbing, though. Calcium and magnesium form hard deposits on the interior walls of plumbing (i.e. “scaling”). This constricts the pipes, which can gradually lead to reduced water pressure. Worse yet, hard water minerals cause corrosion, clogging, and water heater damage as well.
Hard water is frustrating for non-plumbing reasons as well. It encrusts fixtures, damages clothes, leaves spots on dishes, clouds up glass shower doors, and causes more soap scum to form. Additionally, It can also make skin dry and hair brittle. All in all, calcium and magnesium are the source of a lot of problems.
The water softener was developed to make those problems go away. The appliance achieves its purpose thanks to two components:
- Resin beads that replace hard water minerals with sodium
- Salt that regularly recharges the resin beads
A water softener system is a little more sophisticated than we’re giving it credit for. We’re just trying to deliver the big takeaway: If you notice any signs of hard water, a water softener can preserve your plumbing and improve your quality of life in multiple other ways.
What Does a Water Conditioner Do?
Calcium and magnesium aren’t the only substances that can lower your water quality. Although they probably won’t damage your plumbing and appliances, contaminants such as chlorine, chloramines, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon dioxide, methane and radon can give your water to have an unpleasant taste or odor. As you probably already noticed, several of these contaminants aren’t good for your health, either.
Water conditioners was developed to remove those contaminants. Or, to be more accurate, multiple types of water conditioning systems were developed for that purpose.
Some water conditioning systems use filters to intercept contaminants before they reach the tap. Others achieve the same result by utilizing template-assisted crystallization (TAC) media to transform waterborne impurities into tiny crystals. Although neither type of water conditioner removes calcium or magnesium, a TAC media system can eliminate scaling – the reason why it is a popular addition to properties that have hard and contaminated water.
Improve Your Water Quality With Gilk Services
Gilk Services provides the ideal solutions to all your water treatment needs. If hard water is putting your plumbing at risk, we’ve got just the softener you need. If contaminants are affecting your water’s smell and taste, it’s nothing one of our reverse osmosis systems can’t handle.
We’re standing by to serve all your plumbing and water treatment needs in Albany, Avon, Cold Spring, Eden Valley, Freeport, Kimball, Lake Henry, Paynesville, Richmond, Rockville, St. Joseph and Watkins, Minnesota. Contact us today to get started!