As a homeowner, you have plenty on your plate as-is! There’s almost certainly a long list of items you need to monitor or at least keep an eye on consistently throughout the year. One of those that tends to get neglected at times, but should nonetheless be monitored is water quality. As plumbers, this is an issue we see all the time! Luckily, advancements in technology and new products entering the market have made the process of resolving poor water quality a walk in the park!
In this week’s blog, we’re going to walk you through a few of the many reasons why it’s important to have a thorough understanding of water quality. From some of the most common water quality problems and the associated health risks to products we can install, we’ll give you the complete rundown!
Most Common Water Quality Issues
Hard Water
For anyone that’s followed along on our blog before, you know hard water is an issue many Kansas City residents have to deal with! In fact, most of the entire midwest deals with hard water. Essentially, hard water just possesses a higher concentration of “hard” minerals (calcium and magnesium). While safe to drink and wash with, there are certainly some negative side effects. It can cause mineral buildup in your pipes and even dry out your skin, amongst other downsides. Luckily, hard water has become something that’s super simple to take care of! This can be done with a water softener, which we’ll discuss below in the solutions section!
For a complete overview of the hard water topic, check out this blog!
PH Level Off
We’ve all heard the term, pH Level, tossed around in regards to water quality. For starters, the pH of pure water is 7 and the EPA classifies the “national secondary drinking water regulations” as being from 6.5 – 8.5. When water is below a 7 pH, it is considered to be acidic. For obvious purposes, acidic water presents it’s own potential risks, including:
- Exposes you to more metals in your water supply.
- Can be particularly harmful to young children.
- Your plumbing is at risk as well, as it can cause damage and even corrosion to your pipes. Over time, your copper pipes can even dissolve into the water, which certainly spells trouble for all occupants of the house. Consuming too much copper can lead to kidney or liver damage.
On the flipside, what if your pH level is on the high end? This typically leads to the water having a bitter taste and mineral deposits on your pipes/fixtures. UCLA Health reports “this elevated pH can lead to calcium and magnesium carbonate building up in your pipes. While this higher pH doesn’t pose any health risks, it can cause skin to become dry, itchy and irritated.” With this said, it’s certainly safer to have a little higher pH, as opposed to the alternative. If you do have water with a pH over 8.5, an acid neutralizer system is likely going to be your best bet in getting it down to a safer level.
Funky Smelling Water
If your water smells weird, tastes weird, or even just looks weird, there’s definitely something wrong! More often than not, this could mean there’s an underlying issue inside your pipes or a drain causing these issues. If the issue resides solely with your hot water, chances are a water heater repair will need to be done. Depending on the actual smell though, this could signal a variety of issues. This includes a sulfur smell coming after a water heater has sat idle for a week or two. A sewage smell is a possibility if some organic matter has been sitting in your pipes. Even a bleach smell could occur from too much chlorine in your water! All in all, funky smelling water is a little bit of a mixed bag that we’ll dive into deeper detail on in a future blog post!
Water Quality Solutions
Water Softeners
As we mentioned above, one of the most common water quality issues is hard water. The solution to this problem? Water softeners! Here at Stine-Nichols, we’ve seen the popularity of water softeners grow rapidly over the past year here in Kansas City! When it comes to water softeners, you have two primary options: salt-based and saltless. Both are quality options and services our technicians are trained to perform.
The process is simple as well! Let’s start with salt-based softeners. Ion exchange is the scientific term for how the hard minerals are replaced with soft minerals. Water enters through the top of the tank and makes it way through the resin beads. The resin beads (negative electric charge) attract the hard water particle’s positive charge. These ions remain on the beads and soft water is what makes it way out of the tank. Regeneration, which occurs at least once a week, clears these hard ions from the beads so they can continue to do their job. Typically, this regeneration process is automated and set to activate based on water used and the size of your home. Check out the photos below to see a North Star water softener we installed in Kansas City, MO.
In terms of saltless softeners, we strongly recommend the NuvoH2O products. Nuvo softeners are citrus-based and treat water in two different ways. As stated on their website, “the NuvoH2O system binds and isolates the hard mineral ions with a process known as chelation. Once bounded to CitraCharge®, NuvoH2O’s binding agent, the mineral cannot form scale.” In the CitraCharge, there is also an FDA approved citric acid present. This is able to decrease the pH level of the water towards more of a neutral level.
Before we move on from water softeners though, it’s important to touch on the maintenance that comes with them. If you have a salt-based softener installed, you’re going to need to refill the tank with water softener salt periodically. Meanwhile, with the citrus-based Nuvo products, all you need to do is replace the cartridge every 4-6 months. The cartridges are light-weight and easy to handle. Pictured below is a NuvoH2O softener our residential team installed in Kearney, MO.
How to Monitor Water Quality
While installing a water softener will take care of the bulk of residential water quality issues, being able to monitor whether you have poor quality in the first place is important as well! For those on a municipal water system, the water company is required to supply a quality report, so your job is easy! Here’s an example of the 2020 Water Quality Report put out by KC Water. It discusses various efforts their team is taking to ensure water quality is prioritized, as well as charts depicting the regulated contaminents. For all of those living in the Kansas City area, you have little to worry about, as KC Water regularly exceeds quality standards and continues to invest into more efforts.
From their 2019 Water Quality report:
“This fiscal year, we will invest $108.2 million on 34 projects to improve water infrastructure, and $269 million on 37 projects to improve wastewater infrastructure, including the federally mandated Smart Sewer program.”
For those living farther south in the Johnson County area, you’ll notice this process is no different with the water company there, WaterOne. For your reference, here’s WaterOne’s 2020 Water Quality Report.
In regards to those working with well water, it’s going to be on you to monitor the water quality. There are plenty of testing kits available or you could also reach out to a water testing company to do so.
Water Softener Installation in Kansas City!
Whether you’ve never had a water softener before or are having some troubles with your existing one, you can have faith that the technicians at Stine-Nichols Plumbing will get the project completed to perfection! As we briefly alluded to earlier in this blog, water softeners have quickly become a hit amongst Kansas City homeowners! There’s no denying the fact that hard water affects thousands of Kansas City residents, but luckily it’s one of those plumbing problems that’s easy to resolve!
Don’t continue to put off water quality issues! While it may not cause any immediate health risks or problems, believe me when I say soft water makes a big difference. Don’t hesitate to give our team a call at (816) 348-3481 or fill out the free quote form here. You’ll be connected to our operations manager, Jim, who can walk you through pricing, scheduling and more water softener details. As always, we’re more than happy to provide you with a free estimate and we work all throughout the Kansas City area, including the surrounding cities.