RESIDENTIAL and COMMERCIAL
Lime-scale and Hard Water Problems
What is limescale?
If you’ve ever looked inside your kettle or boiler chances are you’ve probably spotted a tough, stony, off-white crust at the bottom of it. This is lime-scale, the deposit left behind by hard water.
Hard water contains higher than average levels of dissolved minerals. Rainwater is naturally ‘soft’, containing few impurities. If it runs over tough rocks like granite or slate it stays this way. But if the water runs through soft, spongy rocks, like limestone or chalk, it absorbs minerals from them. These minerals, often calcium or magnesium carbonate, are what make the water become hard
Why is it a problem?
Hard water itself isn’t necessarily a problem. For years people have been enjoying the healing effects of it. In fact, the health benefits of mineral-rich springs such as those in Bath are legendary. Unfortunately, hard water has other, less pleasant, side-effects. For example, hard water is more difficult to wash in, as soap doesn’t lather as well and can leave behind a light scum on surfaces. Some common detergents are also less effective, meaning clothes can end up looking dirty even after being washed, and that plates and glasses can look dull over time. Hard water can also cause sensitive skin to become dry and irritated.
The biggest problem though, is that if hard water is subjected to temperature change, pressure change or left to stand, the dissolved minerals in it solidify as the moisture evaporates. These solidified minerals are what lime-scale is made of, and they can be a serious problem in the home. As you’ve probably noticed in your own home, lime-scale will often cover taps and hard surfaces with an unsightly layer which can be difficult to remove.
The visible effects, however, are nothing compared to those effects which can’t be seen. Hard water contains an average of 300mg of dissolved minerals per liter, so a four person household can accumulate up to 70kg of lime-scale in a year. A significant amount of this stays inside the plumbing system, clogging them up. Lime-scale also coats the heating elements of your boiler, washing machine, and dishwasher in the same way that it covers your kettle, thus making them less energy-efficient. In fact even a 1.6mm coating of lime-scale on a heating element can make it up to 12% less effective. This will cause you to waste $money$ on energy every year. It could also cause your appliances to burn themselves out much more quickly than normal.
How can I treat it?
The simplest and most common way is to treat it with malt vinegar or lemon juice, which dissolves the mineral deposits. This is fine for cleaning out your kettle or polishing your taps and silverware but it is only a temporary, small-scale solution. (It would be quite tricky to clean a large appliance with lemon juice!)
Most houses in hard water areas therefore treat water as it enters the house. This can be done in two ways – water softening and, more recently, water conditioning.
Water Softening
Water softening is the most common method of treating hard water. It works by a fairly simple chemical process – swapping the calcium (which forms lime-scale) for sodium, (which is more likely to stay dissolved).
• As water enters the domestic system, it passes through an ion exchange column filled with thousands of tiny beads of resin.
• This resin has charged sodium attached to its surface and it swaps this for the more reactive calcium and magnesium as water flows over it.
• The resin can continue to do this indefinitely as long as it is washed through with salt water every so often to wash off the calcium and magnesium and replace the sodium.
Most modern columns will automatically rinse themselves if regularly provided with salt.
Water Conditioning
Water conditioning follows a far more hi-tech route. A water conditioner is attached to the pipes to expose the water to a low level radio field. This field causes tiny impurities in the water to clump together. This will reduce lime-scale because these clumps form a better surface for the dissolved minerals to stick to than the inner surface of the pipes, making them stay suspended in the water.
The effect of this technology is carried throughout your entire water system upstream an downstream from the unit. Existing build up will begin to breakdown, over a period between one to four months, leaving your pipes, showerheads and appliances free from build up which is a major contributor to loss of pressure, and water consuming appliance premature failures, not forgetting the water heater.
And all this is done without the use of any chemicals, backwashes or maintenance. Please note this does leave the minerals in the water therefore it is not "softening" the water.
Please note that not all "Water Conditioners" are the same. There are companies selling "MAGNETS" as water conditioners. Although the Magnets will work on certain application, in most cases they do not work in domestic water applications as some companies will tell you they will. Please ask and we will be happy to explain in more detail.
Which is right for me?
Opinion is divided over which of these two methods is better. Water softening is tried, tested and known to be effective. It also has the added benefit of removing the calcium, making the water more pleasant to wash in and less irritating to sensitive skin. Unfortunately, it also increases the sodium content of the water, so much so that people are advised to keep a separate, untreated tap for drinking water. This is also affecting our fresh water supply.
Softening is also the more expensive option to run; as well softeners need a constant addition of salt. Water conditioners, on the other hand, cost less to buy and have negligible running costs. They also keep the sodium content of the water low enough that it can still be drunk after treatment. The problems with washing are addressed as the water is flocculated with this technology allowing the soaps to work as if in soft water.
Water conditioners have the added benefit of being easier and cheaper to install. We offer a money-back trial period, the benefits certainly make trying out a conditioner worth the effort.
To choose the best method for your home you’ll need to consider these important details: the initial costs and running costs, the addition of sodium into your water supply, and the amount of sediment and minerals that will remain after the water is treated. It is a matter of personal choice and luckily there are options available. In some cases we have our customers install both a water conditioner as well as a softener.