Will a water softening system help dry skin? Water softener showerhead
Will a water softening system help dry skin?
Will a water softening system help dry skin? Let's see what makes it possible by using softened water in the home.
Water in the home, in addition to drinking, is used for washing and washing dishes, cleaning, showering, heating houses. According to the standards for the drinkability of water, its stiffness should not be 7 mg-eqv/l.
Water like this, indeed, does not pose a threat to human health, but is it so good for other domestic needs? The answer is known: "No". Everybody knows that water should be softened, but not everyone knows what for.
Water softeners and water softener showerhead
A survey conducted by the WQA organization showed that the main reasons for consumers to purchase water softeners and water softener showerhead are to prevent the formation of rusty stains on sanitary ware, carbonate sediments in tubes and in heating appliances, reducing the consumption of cleaning and detergents. And only thirty percent of consumers install water softeners to save energy.
Independent research conducted by WaterQualityAssociation (WQA) and Scientific Service, USA, has reliably shown that the use of softened water allows consumers to significantly reduce many of their costs, primarily by saving energy when heating water.
Which Water to Heat
It is known that the water hardness is caused by magnesium and calcium salts in the water to dissolve. When heated, these salts partially precipitate, thus causing scale formation on heat transfer surfaces. The resulting scale formation worsens the heat transfer of heating surfaces, which leads to overheating of the boiler walls and reduces its service life.
In addition, limescale deposits cause additional heat loss. It is believed that the most energy is used to heat homes with hot-water boilers. So how to increase the energy saving of this technology?
It was found that increasing the total water hardness for every 2 mg-eqv/l leads to the formation of scale in domestic hot-water boilers up to 200 g per year, and operation on hard water (>10 mg-eqv/l) - to a 20% decrease in their efficiency on average.
The resulting limescale deposits lead to clogging of pipes that supply hot water to the consumer and, accordingly, is one of the main reasons for the failure of hot water boilers.
Energy consumption (characterized by energy costs, USD) of hot water boilers running on softened water is lower than those running on hard water, even if this stiffness is only 2 mg-eqv/l.
The increase in electricity consumption with increasing water hardness is more noticeable for hot water boilers than for storage boilers, which is primarily due to the need for regular cleaning of the latter from sludge formation. This procedure is expensive and can, depending on the water hardness, reach 200 USD.
Shower heads with softeners – local solution
The water that is heated in the boiler is further used in the shower. The effect of hard water on skin and hair is very negative. In order to solve the problem locally used shower heads with softeners.
Increasing the total water hardness for every 4 mg-eqv/l leads to an 8% decrease in the heat output of the boiler and an increase in energy costs. The use of softened water (0.0 mg-eqv/l) in the operation of boilers allows saving 34% of electricity per year compared to water with a hardness of 6 mg-eqv/l and 47% compared to 10mg-eqv/l.
The use of softened water and shower heads with softeners not only reduces electricity consumption for heating water, but also extends the life of hot water boilers and reduces their maintenance costs.
In what water to wash and take a shower. Shower heads with compartments with salt softener
Shower heads with compartments with salt softener how useful they are? Ions that determine the water hardness cause many different problems during washing. One of them is that the particles of dirt interact with calcium and magnesium salts to form insoluble and difficult to remove compounds.
They are the ones that make clothes rough and unpleasant to the touch when washed in hard water. Another is due to the fact that the surfactants, introduced into the washing agents specifically for dissolving and removing dirt and stains, also interact with calcium and magnesium salts to form compounds that are difficult to soluble, which reduces their effectiveness.
It is well known that the effectiveness of washing depends on water temperature - the hotter the better. It is related to the processes described above - solubility of the formed compounds increases with temperature. Therefore, when washing in hard water it is necessary to increase the amount of powder used and the water temperature. And if you soften the water by shower heads with compartments with salt softener?
The use of softened water not only reduces electricity consumption for heating water, but also extends the life of hot water boilers and reduces their maintenance costs.
At the same time, the effectiveness of laundry washing is higher than in hard water washing at a higher temperature and the consumption of twice the amount of detergent.
The use of softened water allows to increase the efficiency of stain removal in most cases in one and a half times - twice, at the same time reducing the consumption of detergent and energy costs, as washing should be done at lower water temperature.
However, the efficiency of stain removal depends not only on the conditions of the washing process, but also on the nature of the stains themselves. For example, blood or chocolate stains are washed two to three times better with softened water, even at lower temperatures than with hard water.
At the same time, the water hardness has a less significant effect on the effectiveness of removing stains from fresh grass or red wine (due to the nature of the dye and the presence of tannins).
In addition to reducing detergents and energy consumption, the use of softened water can extend the life of household appliances. Photos of the washing machine after use on softened water (a) and water with hardness of 10 mg-eqv/l (b).
The washing machines working with softened water had a service life of 3 years, keeping all working functions at the moment of termination of the experiment. The washing machines working with the use of hard (10 mg-eqv/l) water failed after 11 months of operation, i.e. even before the end of the warranty period (the average for large household appliances is 12 months).
It should be noted that not only washing machines are subject to harmful effects of water with high hardness. It is no less damaging for dishwashers.
The above data make it possible to conclude that the use of softened water for washing and washing dishes can reduce not only the cost of detergents and electricity, but also for the purchase of new, in place of damaged home appliances.
Small water softener for shower head
How do small water softener for shower head help?
- Remove chlorine and chlorine compounds from the water and neutralize all chlorine fumes.
- Remove heavy metals, hardness salts and other chemical compounds.
The result is pure water, after which hair and skin become surprisingly soft, there is no itching and rash, and health is not disturbed in any way.
Please note that the liquid, cleaned with a filter nozzle or filter can be used for bathing toddlers.
Summing up, I would like to emphasize that softened water is a technology that simultaneously guarantees energy efficiency and energy savings. On the one hand, the use of softened water in the home can reduce both the energy consumption of household appliances and detergents for washing and cleaning - energy-saving component. On the other hand, it helps to minimize the cost of all so familiar and making our lives comfortable (washing machines and dishwashers, hot water boilers, etc.) - energy efficient component.
The article uses the materials of research conducted by the water association WQA and the company Scientific Service.
Water too hard for hair and skin? - buy shower water softener
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