Water Treatment FAQ

1. Isn’t bottled water better than tap water?

Just as tap water can vary by location, the content of bottled water varies by bottler. Some of the highest quality bottled water is produced by reverse osmosis (RO) filtration, which typically reduces impurities by 95 percent or more. Reverse osmosis technology is available for your home through your local EcoWater Systems dealer.

2. Isn’t my municipal water treated?

Many municipalities treat water with chlorine to kill bacteria. A few even soften water. But their goal is to only meet minimum federal requirements. To eliminate chlorine aftertaste and common water problems, an in-home water treatment system is often necessary.

3. What, exactly, is treated water?

Treated water is hard water that’s been softened. Water is hard when it contains minerals such as magnesium and calcium. If you have hard water, you may see staining on your sinks, tubs, showers and clothing; build-up on your glassware; and damage due to scale in your pipes and appliances. You may also notice less lather from your shampoo and soap and a filmy feeling on your skin. All of these are symptoms of the need for softened water.

4. What’s so bad about hard water?

Hard water can produce a rock-like scale that builds up in pipes, dishwashers, water heaters, ice machines and other appliances. This scale can also reduce water flow and clog valves and vents to create maintenance problems and reduce service life.

5. How is water softened?

Water is softened or conditioned by replacing hard ions such as magnesium and calcium with softer sodium or potassium ions. Water softeners must be regenerated regularly with a brine solution, renewing their ability to remove hardness from water.

6. How do I know what I need?

The first step to improving your family’s water is to identify your specific problem. Are there reddish-brown iron stains in your sink, shower or tub? Does your bathtub have a hard water ring? Does your water look dirty or cloudy? Does it smell sometimes? For these and other common problems, your EcoWater Systems dealer can conduct in-home water tests and recommend the perfect solution.

7. Don’t my tax dollars pay for clean, regulated water?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets primary and secondary water regulations. In some cases, water will not meet those standards. And even if it does, it may still taste or smell bad or contain magnesium, calcium or other minerals or dissolved solids. Thankfully, in-home water treatment methods are available to take the guess work out of solving water-quality problems.

 8.What Size water softener is best?

The water softener which is sized correctly for the application is Best. To properly size a water softener you must know the hardness of the water you are treating first. Once you have the water analysis then you would look at the fixture count of the residential or commercial application. I.E. Bathrooms, dishwashers, washing machines, hose bibs, etc.

1 cubic foot of resin will soften 30,000 grains of hardness. In San Diego the water is around 15 grains hard. Let’s say you are looking at a 2000 square foot home with 4 people living in it. You can make a simple calculation. Each person will use 50-100 gallons of water a day. So you have a demand of 200-400 gallons of softened water a day. If the water hardness is measured at 15 grains then you would need to treat 6000 grains of hardness a day. Let’s say you want to recharge the softener every 3-4 days then you would use a 20,000 or 30,000 grain capacity system.

For more information on EcoWater products, or to place an order, call us!

EcoWater San Diego at 1-800-585-5501 or contact us via email.