When we say “hard water,” what we really mean is the concentration of calcium and magnesium salts in your water supply—the higher the concentration, the harder the water. If you live in Perth, for example, your home probably has hard drinking water, especially if the water comes from a groundwater supply.
While the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines confirm that Perth’s water supply is safe to drink, it may not taste the best—and it can certainly damage your appliances. Those mineral salts solidify into limescale, clogging and corroding home appliances like kettles, coffee machines, and hot water systems.
To avoid the most common (and costly) hard water issues, we recommend installing a hard water filter (or other whole-home water filter system with softening capabilities to protect your home from hard water). There are several kinds of high quality water filters that can address scale build up, so let’s take a closer look at some of the options and discuss which options may be best suited to your specific home and water.
What is hard water?
Hard water is water that has an above-average concentration of dissolved solids like calcium and magnesium, both of which are common around our head office in WA. These natural minerals build up as water moves through soil and rock, and while mineral-rich water might sound positive, it can actually be a frustrating problem.
Homes that use town water or bore water for their primary water supply will often have high mineral content and see signs of hard water on their shower screens, in home appliances, and on their power bill when scale buildup begins to decrease the efficiency of their water heater. Tank water will typically be significantly softer, as the water hasn’t passed through underground aquifers on its way to your home, but higher sediment levels can lead to similar kinds of discolouration and mineral stains.
Hard water is usually a one-way ticket to limescale, which quickly builds up in your pipes and appliances, in your basins, and even on your clothing and skin. Not only does this lead to expensive repair bills and having to replace your clothes, but your ongoing maintenance costs will likely be higher too, with your water-using appliances having to work harder and harder until they eventually break down.
Scale build up can cause lasting damage to your home. If left untreated, limescale will etch the glass of shower screens and cause permanent damage to heating elements. They may not be as directly dangerous as some of the harmful contaminants that can make their way into our water supplies, but we strongly recommend addressing these high mineral levels with a hard water filter.
The benefits of using a hard water filter
Needless to say, hard water can cause all sorts of problems if left untreated. Using softened, filtered water, however, is a simple way of avoiding these issues and bringing numerous benefits, including:
- Maximising the performance and lifespan of your appliances (while minimising your housework!)
- Protecting your plumbing
- Having healthier, less dry skin and hair
- Enjoying fresher, cleaner-tasting drinking water
- Minimising impurities when cooking
Installing a hard water filter system – especially as part of a whole house water filter – gives you the softening benefits of tank water with the consistency and reliability of town water. Hard water is no match for a high quality water filter system from Complete Home Filtration.
What is the best filtration system for hard water?
Water softeners
The most common way to treat hard water is with a water softener—a water filtration system that uses a bed of resin to filter out the calcium and magnesium minerals. The resin bed traps the minerals as they pass through, before an ion exchange happens and the minerals are replaced by sodium ions. Because of this ion exchange, water softeners need salt to function properly, which in turn requires its own storage tank (known as the brine tank).
Some softeners work through a regeneration process, where water from the brine tank carries the sodium ions into the water softener tank, flushing out the hard minerals and cleaning the water. Others use a non-renewing resin that performs the same ion-exchange process but can be integrated more easily into a larger system without needing separate regenerative/backwash tanks.
While water softeners work well for hard water, the sodium resin alone cannot remove other contaminants or chemicals—which is why they are often paired with other filtration systems.
Reverse Osmosis Water Filters
A reverse osmosis water filter system is a highly effective hard water filter, typically used for drinking water. This high-tech water filter uses a semipermeable membrane that removes particles far too small for other water filtration systems to catch.
These systems are super effective because they use pressure to force water through a series of filters, removing up to 99% of contaminants, including unwanted bacteria, minerals, chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals, and other impurities.
While a standard carbon water filter might need to be paired with a water softener to address hard water, a reverse osmosis system strips the calcium, magnesium, and other minerals out of household water supplies all on its own. Cafes and restaurants will often rely on reverse osmosis water filters to fill up the tanks of their coffee machines in order to protect their expensive equipment from scale build up.
Pre-filters and post-filters are common filtering stages that remove contaminants and dissolved solids while allowing water molecules to pass through. Water is forced to travel through the membrane from the concentrated (contaminated) side to the less concentrated side due to pressure. The fresh water it produces is known as permeate, and the wastewater it produces is known as brine.
Reverse Osmosis water filter systems are incredibly thorough, but these single-purpose filtered water supplies are limited in their usefulness for the rest of your home. RO water tastes fantastic and has significantly reduced levels of fluoride, chlorine, and other chemicals, but the technology isn’t suitable for whole house systems. Your shower and washing machine will still be vulnerable to the conditions of your town water, and high mineral content will affect more than just the glasses and mugs you drink water from.
Complete Home Filtration
If you’re looking for a whole house solution, the most effective filtration method is to install a Complete Home Filtration system, which eliminates the need for any other filters in the home. This means that not only is your drinking water filtered, but your bathroom water too—perfect for fresh, clean showering.
The Complete Home System (CHF-6000) is our flagship model. Unlike other whole-home water filters on the market, we designed it specifically with Australian homeowners in mind. The CHF-6000 softens and filters your water supply, delivering clean water filtered to 1 micron and softening the water with up to 98.5% chlorine removal (along with other nasty chlorine by-products and heavy metals).
With a fantastic record for customer satisfaction and awards for innovation and service, a CHF water filter can make a massive difference whether you have tank water or a direct mains connection. Its built in softeners, carbon cartridges, and dedicated heavy metal water filters allow for stress-free washing and showers and make sure your water tastes fantastic.
Looking to Soften Your Water?
If you’re looking for a highly effective filtration system that also softens your water, the System is the perfect way to get clean, fresh, rejuvenating water for your home—while protecting your plumbing and appliances from limescale buildup.
To find out more about our filter systems, read our comprehensive guide or to speak directly to an informed member of our team. Contact us today.
