Hard water can be very problematic in your home, and it tends to cause the biggest issues on the surfaces that your tap water comes into most frequent contact with. Your faucets certainly fall into that category, because they are responsible for delivering a large majority of the water that you use at home. Today we’re going to talk about the effects hard water has on your faucets and how you can protect your faucets from hard water by installing a water softener!
How does hard water affect the faucets in your Pennsylvania or New Jersey home?
- It reduces water pressure. Most faucets have a small screen installed inside their tips called an aerator. The purpose of this screen is to add air to the water that’s flowing out of the faucet in order to provide a more effective stream. If your home has hard water, hardness minerals can build up on the aerator. This blocks a certain amount of water from being able to flow through the aerator, which reduces the overall pressure of the water that comes out of your faucets.
- It sprays and misdirects water. Another issue with hardness minerals collecting on aerators is that it alters the direction that water flows out of your faucets. Instead of flowing directly downward, water might start to spray diagonal or horizontal, or sometimes even back at the person who is turning the faucet on.
- It causes limescale buildup. Limescale is a crusty, white collection of hardness minerals that grows on the plumbing surfaces of homes that have hard water. It is a very ugly substance, and it can make your faucets look dirtier, older and more corroded than they actually are. Limescale is also very hard to remove, which makes it more difficult to clean your kitchens and bathrooms.
- It shortens your faucets’ lifespans. Limescale isn’t just ugly; it is also damaging to the materials that your faucets are made of. That’s why the faucets in homes with hard water tend to have a shorter lifespan than those found in homes with soft water. Even if hard water is not damaging your faucets, the limescale that builds up on them can get so severe that it can be almost impossible to clean them. As a result, you might have to replace your faucets simply for aesthetic reasons.
Install a water softener to protect your faucets from hard water
The best way to protect your faucets from limescale buildup is to install a water softener in your home. A water softener will remove hardness minerals from your water as soon as the water enters your home, so there will be no trace of those minerals by the time your water makes it to your faucets. By installing a water softener, you’ll protect your faucets from damage and keep them sparkling and clean.
If you have any questions about the effects hard water has on faucets, or if you’d like a water system serviced or installed in your home, contact EPA Water, your water softener and water filtration system dealer in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We provide service all over Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including towns like Malvern, Quakertown and Allentown, PA.