Author: rasplumb

If you live in an area with hard water, you are likely all too familiar with stiff laundry, chalky residue on your faucets, and dry skin after a shower. High concentrations of calcium and magnesium in municipal or well water can wreck your home’s plumbing and appliances over time.

A home water softener is the ultimate fix—yet many homeowners hesitate to install one due to common myths. Let’s break down the real benefits of soft water and clear up the biggest misconception about sodium.

The Real Benefits of Softening Your Water

• Protects Your Plumbing & Appliances: Hard mineral buildup (scale) clogs pipes and shortens the lifespan of water heaters, dishwashers, and washing machines. Soft water keeps them running efficiently.
• Saves Money on Soap & Energy: Soft water lets soaps and detergents lather easily, meaning you use up to 50% less product. Plus, scale-free water heaters run much more efficiently, lowering utility bills.
• Gentler on Skin, Hair, and Clothes: Say goodbye to soapy film on your skin, frizzy hair, and faded, rough clothing.

Myth Busted: “Water Softeners Put Dangerously High Amounts of Sodium in Your Water”

This is the single most common reason homeowners hold back, but the science is simple: water softeners do not make your water “salty.”

Water softeners use an ion-exchange process, replacing hard calcium and magnesium minerals with tiny trace amounts of sodium.

How much sodium is actually added?

• Drinking an 8-ounce glass of softened water typically adds about 12 to 30 milligrams of sodium, depending on your water’s original hardness.
• For comparison, a single slice of white bread contains about 130 milligrams of sodium, and a glass of milk has around 120 milligrams.

Unless you are on an extremely strict, medically required zero-sodium diet, the amount of sodium in softened water is negligible. (And if you are watching every single milligram, an under-sink Reverse Osmosis system easily removes it for drinking water.)

Ready for Soft Water in Your Home?

Stop fighting mineral buildup, spotty glasses, and dry skin. Contact our team today to test your water hardness and find the perfect softening system for your home!

Try these quick and easy troubleshooting options to see if you can solve the issue before calling us to fix the more serious problem.

1. Check your furnace filter for dirtiness. If it is too dirty, it will cause flame-over sensors and the like to throw – causing the furnace to “throw” an error code and cease the heating function. Remember – just because the filter doesn’t look dirty doesn’t mean it isn’t! Sometimes it can be dirty with lighter colored dust that is not obvious – restricting airflow. If you don’t remember when it was changed last – try this first!
2. Try cycling the furnace by locating the “light switch” style switch near the furnace. Switch it off for at least 30 seconds, then turn it back on. Wait and see if your furnace starts to make a flame again and sustains it.
3. Is something on your thermostat overriding the furnace cycle right now? Try switching the thermostat (if modern/digital) from schedule to “hold” and see if the heat comes back alive. If your thermostat is not on – that’s a problem, it isn’t getting power, which could be something more serious like the furnace logic board. Our technicians can diagnose all kinds of issues like this if this is the case.