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Author:
greggie (IL)
Im tired of buying salt and servicing my old water softener. My location has hard water of "38 grains".
What will happen if I remove the softener?
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Author:
srloren (CA)
You will have hard water of "38 grains
srloren
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Author:
greggie (IL)
Ia that going to cause me issues?
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Author:
hj (AZ)
Probably. NOT having those issues is why you had the softener originally. If you want to see what happens, just put the softener in "bypass mode" for a few weeks.
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Author:
greggie (IL)
That makes sense, someone wouldnt had spent the $ if there werent issues
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Author:
greggie (IL)
Then again maybe someone purchased a aoftener for this property as a luxury item for bathing or something.....
Main concern, what does hard water do to copper piping?
I know they say appliances are at risk... what will it do a water heater thats only going to last 12 years anyway?
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Author:
hj (AZ)
When the heaer operates, ALL the minerals left in the water will precipitate out and accumulate at the bottom of the tank, insulating it, if it is a gas heater, and enveloping the element and burning it out, if electric.
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Author:
srloren (CA)
Water heaters in San Diego don't last 12 years. You are lucky if you get 6 years because of the minerals. That is why you have to drain them every 4 months or so.
srloren
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Author:
Tom the Elder (CA)
Dang! Drain the tank every 4 months? Flushing my 1 year old tank for the first time is on my schedule for next weekend -I thought annual was normal. Is it likely sediment will have built up over the drain spigot? If so, is that likely to cause problems - and what should I do about them?
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Author:
Tom the Elder (CA)
My area of northen California has hard water and many people have water softeners - I don't. As I understand it, the primary reason people have tham is to avoid mineral build up on fixtures (I use Lime Away on tub spout every year or so) and spotting on dishes. My wife loves it when we visit somewhere with soft water because it makes her hair look so much better (she says, I can't tell the difference but have been married long enough to not say so).
I have heard that there is concern about the amount of sodium entering groundwater from the softeners, which use sodium chloride to replace the calcium cloride in your water.
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