1. The Arizona Republic 06/15/2013
A Gannett Newspaper 117th Year, No.117 Copyright 2006 The Arizona Republic June 18, 2013 2:41 pm / Powered by TECNAVIA
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PERA Club in Tempe. Attendees must be SRP customers and legally able to plant trees
on their property. Choose among saplings of six desert trees: native mesquite, palo-
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about future workshops, e-mail srpshadetree@vpaaz.org or call 602-325-1254.
at Bath & Body Works stores. Get
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Home ImprovementR E S O U R C E D I R E C T O R Y
TO ADVERTISE CALL (602) 444-8443
To verify the license status of an Arizona contractor,
call 602-542-1525, 1-888-271-9286 or
visit www.rc.state.az.us
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AR-0008032306-01
A
rizona has hard water;
that’s a given. But once
you accept that fact, you
have to decide what to do about
the water at your house.
Here are
the basics: The
U.S. Depart-
ment of the
Interior de-
fines water as
being slightly
hard when it
has from 1 to
3.5 grains per
gallon of calci-
um and mag-
nesium bicar-
bonates occurring naturally in
the water . In Arizona, hardness
levels can exceed 20 grains per
gallon, but these levels are not
dangerous. After all, about 80
percent of the water in the Unit-
ed States is considered hard.
What homeowners don’t like
is that these minerals can cause
scale to build up inside plumb-
ing and appliances. The useful
life of a dishwasher and a water
heater can be shortened as a
result. The harder the water, the
grayer the “whites” look when
you do laundry.
Some of us don’t like the
taste of the water either. You
can use carbon filtration to
improve the taste. But a re-
verse-osmosis system or distill-
ation unit can do even more to
clarify your water by combining
carbon filtration with removal
of dissolved solids or what some
people call “floaties.”
When it comes to the hard-
ness of the water, however, we
recommend buying or renting a
water-softening system to han-
dle the issue. That’s the only
way to end or minimize scale on
shower walls as well as mineral
build-up in appliances and wa-
ter-heater. In the process, you
can eliminate dry-skin prob-
lems and cut back on use of
soaps, detergents, shampoos
and fabric softeners.
If you’re doing your home-
work before you buy or rent,
you’re likely to hear many
myths about what water treat-
ment does and doesn’t do, ac-
cording to David Perry, exec-
utive director of the Arizona
Water Quality Association, a
non-profit trade organization.
Here are some claims you
should discount:
Myth No. 1: You can soften
water with a salt-free system.
That is just not possible. Sys-
tems that say they are no-salt
softeners are actually just scale
inhibitors. Some can decrease
the scale inside appliances;
some will hardly affect that
scale at all. These alternative
treatment firms may use mag-
netic, catalytic, electric or elec-
tro-dialysis equipment. Most of
these firms offer no indepen-
dent confirmation that they can
remove calcium or magnesium
ions from water or reduce scale
formation. Often these systems
are coupled with a carbon filter
to make drinking water taste
better. But the best way to re-
duce hardness in water is by
installing an ion-exchange soft-
ener. It will remove hardness —
the scale-forming calcium and
magnesium — by replacing it
with sodium chloride or potassi-
um chloride.
Myth No. 2: By removing
dissolved solids from water you
will deprive your body of
healthy nutrients like calcium
and magnesium, prevalent in
hard water. The problem with
that argument is that the calci-
um and magnesium in your
water are in an inorganic form
that your body cannot digest in
the way that it can the minerals
in your food or dietary supple-
ments.
Myth No. 3: Softened water
leaves a film on your skin be-
cause something has been added
to your water. It’s true that your
skin will feel softer and less dry
after a shower in softened water
because your natural body-
moisturizing oils are better able
to reach your skin’s surface. In
addition, those soaps, shampoos
and shower gels will suds up
faster. After your shower in soft
water, you are actually much
cleaner than when you shower
in hard water.
Myth No. 4: Softeners add
extra salt to your water. That is
not really happening because
the softening process is an ion-
exchange system that removes
the salts holding the calcium and
magnesium and replaces them
with other salts. You’re not real-
ly adding to the total salt level in
your water. By comparison, an
8-ounce glass of Coca-Cola has
30 milligrams of sodium while
an 8-ounce glass of softened
water has less than 12.5 mil-
ligrams. According to the Cen-
ters for Disease Control, a typ-
ical 1-ounce slice of bread has
between 80 and 230 milligrams
of salt, depending on the brand.
Myth No. 5: Drinking water
purified in a reverse-osmosis
system or in a distiller will leach
essential minerals from your
body. This old and untrue story
can be found all over the In-
ternet. Nothing is purged from
your body by drinking filtered
or distilled water, according to
Perry. The EPA actually ad-
vocates use of reverse osmosis
to remove some substances
from drinking water. Generally,
you should also avoid any com-
pany that uses scare tactics
regarding the safety of your
municipal drinking-water sup-
ply.
Myth No. 6: Water from a
reverse osmosis system or a
distiller will be acidic. RO/dis-
tilled water does have a lower
pH level. That’s because these
systems remove dissolved bicar-
bonate solids but not acid-pro-
ducing carbon dioxide. Without
the bicarbonates to neutralize it,
there is carbonic acid in the RO
water. But it is not a health con-
cern, nor will it endanger your
water pipes. Although the pH
level of untreated tap water will
be about 7; the level of RO water
is about 6. Soft drinks and sports
drinks typically have a pH of
2.5; orange juice is at 3 pH; and
coffee is at 4 pH. We drink all
these beverages all the time
without major problems.
Before hiring a water-treat-
ment contractor, be sure the
contractor is licensed, bonded
and insured. Does the contractor
use trained and qualified tech-
nicians for installation and fol-
low-up? Did he or she test your
water before making a recom-
mendation, even if you are on a
municipal-water source? Do you
understand the cost of ongoing
maintenance and upkeep?
Next week, we’ll tell you all
about how the state of Arizona’s
Registrar of Contractors De-
partment can save you a lot of
time, money and trouble when
you set out to hire a contractor
to do a major remodel or repair
at your house.
For more do-it-yourself tips, go to
rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona
homebuilding and remodeling
industry expert for 25 years, Rosie
Romero is the host of the
syndicated “Rosie on the House”
radio program heard locally in
Phoenix on KTAR-FM (92.3) 8-11
a.m. Saturdays. Consult our
website for other listings. Call
888-767-4348.
Hard facts about 6 common water-softening myths
Softening your home’s water can prevent scale buildup that shortens
the lives of appliances. It has other benefits, too. ROSIE ON THE HOUSE
ROSIE
ROMERO
ON THE HOUSE