How Hard is TOO HARD Water?
Ғылым және технология
How Hard is too hard water? How do you know if your water is too hard and you need a water softener for your family? At what point is the hardness level so hard that it damages your appliances, makes your home tough to keep clean and causes itchy and irritated skin? Why do some of your neighbours have water softeners and others don’t? I’m going to show you how hard is too hard when it comes to your water starting right now.
Every home has a multitude of water using appliances, pipe, fixtures and a hot water heater, either the tank type or tankless. When your water is hard it flows over the surfaces but leaves a scale. Not just once, but there are layers added on top of layers. Those layers make your home far more difficult to keep clean, shortens the life of your dishwasher, washing machine and hot water tank. As well as drying out your skin and making your clothes look dingy after washing.
Check out our water softeners offering free shipping and discount pricing here waterestore.ca/collections/wa...
Not sure how a water softener works to soften your water and protect your home for your family? Check out my KZread video here • How Does a Water Softe...
You really need to know your water’s hardness before looking up what levels are too hard but more importantly you need to know some of the symptoms of hard water and check with your family if these are a concern, like:
Do you find it difficult to keep your home clean due to staining around the fixtures?
Are you getting stains in your toilet or around the sink drains?
Water spots on your shower doors and glasses coming from the dishwasher?
Does it take a great deal of soap in your water before you get bubbles?
Any there concerns in your family with dry itching skin and “frizzy hair”?
Laundry looking dingy after washing?
Don’t know the hardness of your water? No problem, if you’re on a municipal water source you can always call the municipality and ask them. If they give you the number in parts per million you just divide it by 17 to get your water’s hardness in grains per gallon. Mail us a sample or check out this link waterestore.ca/pages/free-wat...
Water Store 1004 King Street Midland, Ontario L4R0B8
0-.5 gpg: Your water has been softened already 1-3.5 gpg: Your water doesn’t require softening because it is coming from a soft water source like surface water from a lake or river. You will get minimal or no scale buildup or staining.
3.5-7 gpg: Water is moderately hard, causing spotty dishes and dry skin. At this level having a water softener is optional but if you have had one in the past and are particular about the cleanliness if you home you will want one again.
7-10.5 gpg: Hard water is packed with minerals at this level, and you likely deal with crusty stained faucets & pipes and possibly reddish rings on your porcelain from excess iron. You will not be able to use an on demand hot water heater or Ultraviolet Disinfection system without first softening the water. You will notice that you are getting scale buildup around faucets and fixtures, toilets will become stained.
10.5-14: Considered very hard, this water exhibits all the signs of hard water all the time. Glass shower doors and dishes will become very spotty. Whenever water sits anywhere in your home you will get a build up of lime scale and it will be difficult to scrub off. Your hot water heater will become less efficient due to the scale buildup and you will shorten the life of your dishwasher and washing machine.
14+: Extremely hard water. Glasses are extra spotty, skin feels super squeaky, dry and scaly. Soap scum will become an issue and there will be scale buildup everywhere. You will need to use far more soap to get clothes, dishes and people clean.
So why do some of your neighbours have water softeners and others don’t? Quite frankly you’ll find that the ones that do are more picky about their home being clean and tidy.
Click here for your next video on water softeners and I’ll see you there! • Water Softener Basics
Any questions or comments about this video or water softeners in general? Please enter them below.
LOVE GARY THE WATER GUY AND WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WATER FILTRATION FOR YOUR FAMILY? HERE ARE SOME NEXT STEPS!
1) Sign up to keep in touch with Gary! mailchi.mp/waterestore.com/su...
2) LET’S CONNECT!
/ waterestore
/ waterestore
/ the-water-filter-estore
/ water_estore
/ waterstoremidland
3) CONTACT!
info@WaterEstore.com or info@WaterStoreMidland.com
4) SHOP!
Midland www.WaterStoreMidland.com
Canada www.WaterEstore.ca
USA www.WaterEstore.com
Please share this video • How Hard is TOO HARD W...
Please comment below. #garythewaterguy #watersoftener #waterfiltration
Пікірлер: 47
Do you need a water softener? This video will help you decide!
My new favorite KZread channel. Started small with zero filter in frig. Now I’m going big and will order everything from here
@GarytheWaterGuy
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for watching!
I live in far Northern Illinois. I just checked online and my town has a hardness water level of 427 mg/L(equivalent to 30 grains). Oh boy. I do have a water softener in my home. It was there when I bought the place a couple years ago but it looks so old. It's one of those manually set ones. I keep it really clean. It was a real mess when I moved in. Black stuff was floating around in the brine tank and there is a float glass on the side where the float was covered in what looked like salt pieces. Well I switched it from the granular stuff they were using to Morton salt pellets. What a difference that product made in helping to keep this old softener clean. Then I installed a res care water softener cleaning kit with the little tank that sits in the brine tank. Now I'm trying to figure out if this softener is set up right as I don't trust what the previous owner was doing with it. It's pretty old but in good shape. It's got a Pentair 460i controller on it. Not the easiest thing to figure out. I will replace this eventually but money is tight right now. I am wondering if a water conditioner is a better way to go??
@GarytheWaterGuy
8 ай бұрын
Water Conditioners don't actually soften your water. I personally think you are better off with a water softener, that's what I use for my family.
@eddiea3782
8 ай бұрын
@@GarytheWaterGuy Thank you very much for the input. I really appreciate it. When the time comes I will just replace my current softener with a new modern system. 😊
I'm enjoying your vids after having bought a rural 1970's house on a well, my first property not on public utilities. The only lab test I have shows a hardness level of 874 mg/l, which converts to 51 GPG. Using your Compensated formula, from another vid, adding 2.32 for Iron and not having figures for Manganese, it comes out to 55.32 GPG. 55GPG X 1120 gals (average weekly consumption for two people) gives me a needed 61,600 minimum grain capacity. That seems like a pretty big softener for just two people. I haven't moved in and talked to neighbors about their water, but it seems a very high hardness level for the area where the house is located based on stats. I plan on treating, fixing, and testing everything in the coming months, including replacing the copper with Pex. Now for the questions, can anything in the old system (pump, pressure tank, residue on the pipes, etc.) contribute to the elevated water Hardness result? It's just two people. Am I better off with a larger capacity softener tank (60-70K) and programming to regenerate every 7 days or a smaller tank and regenerating in shorter intervals? Thanks for the helpful content!
@GarytheWaterGuy
7 ай бұрын
Nothing equipment wise will contribute to the hardness. The sizing depends on current and future use. If you are confident you will be staying at 2 people go with a water softener like this one waterestore.com/products/hum-metered-water-softener-45-000-grain-capacity-free-shipping if somehting light change and you will have 2-4 people move in, you are far better off with this one waterestore.com/products/ws-metered-water-softener-60k
thank you very informative
@GarytheWaterGuy
3 жыл бұрын
Glad it was helpful! Please share with friends and family.
Very credible presentation.
@GarytheWaterGuy
2 жыл бұрын
Glad you think so! Please share video with friends and family!
Good information, very interesting and helpful.
@GarytheWaterGuy
Жыл бұрын
Thank you! Please share video with friends and family
Your content is great; it’s really helped me to navigate an industry that has a lot of companies wanting to scam consumers. I’m wondering if you might have thoughts about this: My 10-year-old condo has pex piping where many of the brass fittings and the water heater have significant scale build up. But when I tested my water hardness it was only 5 GPG. Is that enough to ruin plumbing systems over time, or is it more likely that the hardness in my city varies over time. I have municipal water from Austin Texas where the primary water source is the Colorado river. I’m having a water softener loop installed, but I’m worried that if the hardness varies here, that might complicate programming the system.
@GarytheWaterGuy
3 жыл бұрын
the scale likely is just the brass reacting with the pH of the water. At a hardness of 5 you only need a water softener if the scale in the house (or condo) becomes a concern.
Have been learning a lot watching these videos! I do understand water level and salt pellet level in the brine tank. My question is my father in law insists his softener needs salt crystals and fill to the top. His installer was Culligan. Is there a difference between the pellet idea and the crystals in the brine tank?
@GarytheWaterGuy
3 жыл бұрын
This video will help you understand the differences in types of water softener salt. kzread.info/dash/bejne/g5Zpp6WwpdzRZLQ.html
Calling all plumbers or hard-water-havin’-that-won’t-soften people; we have hard water. Like really hard. Coming in from the main waterline I have first a filter, then after I have a Yarna CWD24 Descaler, and finally I have a Whirlpool WHES30, all inline before the GE 50g water heater. All equipment seems to be of newer, or is new, and by all accounts seems to be in good working order. The water softener has not been going through pellets very fast if at all. I’m looking for ideas other than what I’ve already tried, which here’s a snapshot of a few main things I’ve done to try and buff this stuff out; -Pulled apart and cleaned everything in the Whirlpool including nozzles, venturi, all lines coming out of venturi into the brine-well -installed a Venturi rebuild kit from Whirlpool -Emptied salt tank, cleaned and added new salt. I only half-fill the pellets -break up salt bridges daily if there are any -ran a bottle of Whirlpool WHEWSC Water Softening Cleanser 16oz, as per instruction -ran regeneration after all cleaning, rebuilding, bottle of cleaner, salt adding etc. All lines and Venturi are clean and clear. I’ve blown through them after cleaning. The salt level is reset every time I add salt. I use only the recommended salt. My regen is set to 0200, when nobody is using water. Water hardness level is set to max.
@GarytheWaterGuy
6 ай бұрын
What is the hardness of your water? I would find that out and set your hardness as to what it actually is. Also, have your water tested for hardness after the softener because it may actually be working but you don't realize it. And, you may want to throw out the descaler because they don't work.
Gary first of all thank you for taking the time to make these videos, I find them extremely helpful and also interesting on the inner workings of water softeners. I do have a question. My water softener will regenerate at 1200 gallons or 8 days. I rarely use the 1200 gallons before 8 days. How many days is too many between regeneration cycles? Should I raise the days between and rely on using 1200 gallons between regen cycles?
@GarytheWaterGuy
3 жыл бұрын
Glad you like them! A water softener needs to regenerate at least every 14 days, so your 8 is no problem.
@showmeyourstuff9518
3 жыл бұрын
@@GarytheWaterGuy Thank you so much Gary for the reply!
Thank you for the great information. My well water tested at 110 grains per gallon. I have twin tanks and have the softener settings at 150 grains of salt per water. I have all kinds of problems as I have to regenerate my tanks before they reach 0 gallons. Is there anything you would recommend to improve my water situation? Thank you
@GarytheWaterGuy
2 жыл бұрын
Did you try the info in this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/i66Vr81qpritnJc.html
I have a clack valve that is leaking at the neck of the tank. Do you recommend any good sealant to apply on the threads when I re install the valve?
@GarytheWaterGuy
2 жыл бұрын
You can try removing the head and use plumbers sislicone grease on the o ring when you put it back on waterestore.ca/products/plumbers-secret-clear-silicone-grease-food-grade-113-gram While you have the head off check for cracks, a cracked tank will also casue leaks at the neck.
Great video! We had our spring water tested at a lab and total hardness was 493.1 ppm. Is that hard enough to ruin pipes and appliances, laundry, etc? Should I consider a water softener?
@GarytheWaterGuy
Жыл бұрын
Yes, that is too hard. We have a great choice for a softener here waterestore.ca/products/hum-deluxe-water-softener-30-000-grain
Does getting a water softener remove the build up already in pipes, and say faucets, or shower heads or do we need to clean out somehow. I live in las vegas and my dishwasher already went out on me after 5 years in this house. I am first owner of home, so any build up is on me for not getting water softener earlier. I am planning on getting a salt water tank and a conditioning system along with it. They advertise ws1 as what they use. Oasis is the name of company and I just want to make sure I'm getting what is right. Any input would greatly be appreciated. The Champion is what they call there system.
@GarytheWaterGuy
3 жыл бұрын
Yes, after you get a water softener the soft water will slowly remove the lime scale buildup in your pipes but it will take some time. A Clack WS1 valved water softener like this waterestore.com/products/hum-deluxe-water-softener-30-000-grain?_pos=1&_sid=c7124a492&_ss=r is usually the best way to go to softener the water and this to remove the chlorine waterestore.com/products/hum-automatic-back-washable-carbon-filter-1-0?_pos=2&_sid=29c935885&_ss=r
My hardness is at 27gpg and for years I had a WaterBoss softener that “seemed” to do okay. Well time slips away and 16 years goes by with no replacement or resin change. Needless to say my hardness level crept back up to around 7-8 and of course the toilets showed staining. I replaced it with a high quality softener from a local water supply store. My question is now that I have soft water again with it reverse the damage caused earlier in pipes and fixtures over time?
@GarytheWaterGuy
10 ай бұрын
Great question! Yes, it will, but it will take time.
Hey Gary my water hardness in gpg is 15 what should I set my water softener hardness on. The old owners had it set on 45
@GarytheWaterGuy
2 жыл бұрын
This video will help kzread.info/dash/bejne/ioGNmJuhlMu-ZJc.html
Hi Gary we need help! We have a whirlpool softener that is spewing water out of the top of the motor at the end of the regeneration cycle. We have made sure the venti is not clogged, the drain hose is unclogged, we have replaced the circuit board and motor. It seemed to be working after all our repairs until my husband put cleaner in the tube as instructed and set it to do a manual regeneration. At the end of that regeneration is when we noticed the water was spewing out of the top of the motor. Any ideas?
@GarytheWaterGuy
3 жыл бұрын
Sorry, no. Big box store water softeners are very difficult to trouble shoot and repair. Did you try the steps outlined in this video? kzread.info/dash/bejne/fqZnzNuAma3Kc5M.html
@Kegels_gti_16V
2 жыл бұрын
You have opened the top of the head? Take all deals uit and put Some Grease back in them, than reassembly the top head
Does a TDS meter measure the hardness ? I was under the assumption that is what they used when they come out to test. Culligan is telling me my TDS tester is not how they test.
@GarytheWaterGuy
Жыл бұрын
We test hardness with a chemical test kit. TDS meter tests the Total Dissolved Solids of the water, which includes hardness, but a lot more too.
so 186 GPG is bad? lol I just had a test done on my well. It said that mg/L is 3178. So that equates to 186 GPG. What are my options?
@GarytheWaterGuy
4 ай бұрын
Is that 3178 hardness only or Total Dissolved Solids (Hardness and other minerals added together)? Be sure to find out as it can make a huge difference to sizing your water softener.
@FaithWRanch
4 ай бұрын
@@GarytheWaterGuy yes it is separate. TDSs are 5486. The only units I've found that will work for me are not in stock. The lady at the lab said I might be better off with a ro system. I'm a residence and don't need the flow of a commercial system.
Can the water be to soft? What do you think?
@GarytheWaterGuy
2 жыл бұрын
This KZread video of mine will help you kzread.info/dash/bejne/m2RhvNiRddy9qps.html
How hard is too hard? How about something on the order of 1,700 to 2,000 parts per million? Because that would be the running average of what comes out of my tap if I turn off the softener. Lol.
@GarytheWaterGuy
Жыл бұрын
Yes, if you have 1700 to 2,000 ppm of hardness that is very hard but we have seen worse.