Water quality can be a major issue for your home, regardless of whether its hooked up to a municipal water supply or a private well. But when it comes to water treatment equipment and options, it’s easy to get confused. If you’re one of the many homeowners who thinks a water softener will take care of all of your water quality issues, or if you’re counting on your water filtration system to deal with hard water, you may actually be misinformed. Water softeners and water filtration equipment are two different types of water treatment systems, and each tackles a different water quality issue. Here’s what you need to know about water treatment services and your water:

Water Filtration Systems

Water filtration systems are designed to deal with impurities in your water. Using an activated carbon filter, these systems trap a vast number of contaminants that would otherwise flow straight out of your tap and into your glass. These can include:

• Chlorine
• Chloramine
• VOCs
  (volatile organic compounds) and SOCs
  (synthetic organic compounds)
• THMs
• Herbicides and pesticides
• Industrial
  solvents

With a whole-house water filtration unit, you no longer have to worry about the quality of the water in your home, at least in terms of pollutants. But as effective as they are against chemical contaminants, water filtration systems do not combat hard water.

Water Softeners

On the other hand, water softeners are designed to treat hard water but won’t affect the presence of pollutants like VOCs or chloramine. Hard water contains high levels of the minerals calcium and magnesium. This may not seem like a major concern, however, these minerals can damage appliances and plumbing in a process called scaling. As the minerals build up, or “scale,” on the interior surfaces of your pipes and appliances like water heaters, they restrict the flow of water and compromise functionality and efficiency. Hard water even makes soap less efficient.

Water softeners treat your water by lowering the concentrations of calcium and magnesium, eliminating their negative effects. Salt-free water softeners work by accelerating the formation of nanoparticles while traditional models use the ion-exchange principle to replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium. Regardless of which style of water softener installation you select, these units will effectively combat hard water.

To determine the best solution for your water quality issues, you’ll want to have a water test performed. Some water treatment companies provide these analyses on a complimentary basis as part of their estimate process, so be sure to ask! Once the exact impurities in your water, and their concentrations, have been determined, you can work to formulate the best whole-house water filtration setup, water softener–or both–to deal with your home’s particular water quality needs.

So instead of considering water softeners and home water filtration systems as interchangeable, remember that water softeners deal with hard water while filters tackle contamination issues. By using the proper equipment to treat your water’s particular concerns, you’ll get the best results and the safest, tastiest water. Contact your local water treatment service to get started today!

Window shades, blinds, and plantation shutters provide a lot more than just attractive looks for your home. Your window treatments can also add privacy, light control, and even energy efficiency!

The right draperies or blinds put the beautiful finishing touch on your decor, but they also do so much more. From providing you with privacy and light control to adding energy efficiency, your window shades and blinds are a high-performance addition to your home no matter which style you choose!

Privacy

Whether you select a light-filtering design or a room-darkening shade, window coverings of all kinds can help add a little privacy to your home. Translucent options like sheer blinds and shades can both let the maximum light in and keep prying neighbors’ eyes out while options like bamboo or woven wood shades can filter light for a great compromise between privacy and illumination. Of course, full-coverage options like cellular shades or Roman shades can help ensure complete privacy when drawn.

Light Control

Just about all window treatments provide great light control when closed: plantation shutters, horizontal blinds, and Roman shades all keep the sun’s glare out when drawn. However, there are a number of great window covering options that can help manage your natural light levels even when open. The innovative new sheer blinds are one of these. Window films are also a great choice for constant light control. You can even get clear window films that let all the light in yet block 99% of dangerous UV radiation–you get the benefit of beautiful sunlight without the harmful and fading effects of the Sun.

Energy Efficiency

While privacy and light control are offered, to varying degrees, by just about every type of window treatment, not all window blinds and shades provide energy-efficient performance. However, there is an increasing selection of these energy-saving window treatments on the market. Two of the most notable are plantation shutters and cellular shades. In fact, there are even great new cellular vertical blinds available to help you get energy efficiency and attractive appearance for patio doors and extra-large windows!

So when the time comes to add new window blinds, shades, or shutters to your home or office, make sure you consider more than just looks. With the privacy, light-control, and energy-efficiency benefits of many kinds of window treatments, you can get the performance and appearance that are just right for your specific needs.

If you’re concerned about hard water in your home but aren’t sure the drawbacks of water softener installation are worth it, you need to consider putting in a salt-free water softener. These systems effectively treat hard water without the expense, waste, or environmental cost of ion exchange water softeners!

Hard water can be a serious issue for your plumbing and water-related appliances, but installing a water softener can also have some major drawbacks. If you’re looking for a way to stop hard water problems without the negatives of an ion exchange water softener, you need to consider the latest technology: salt-free water softeners. These systems can prevent hard water from damaging your pipes and appliances without the waste, expense, or environmental issues created by other water softening methods! Your water treatment service should be able to install this great new technology for your home or business.

Traditional water softeners replace the calcium and magnesium ions in hard water with sodium ions, creating salty wastewater and using a comparatively large amount of energy. Did you know that these water softeners:

Waste water? Did you realize that traditional systems waste at least 200 to 240 gallons each week? That adds up to 12,500 gallons of water wasted every year. Just to put that number in perspective, remember that many people in the developing world use less than three gallons of water per day… So the water wasted by one ion water softener is enough to supply 13 people with water for an entire year!

Create high sodium levels in wastewater? Traditional water softeners use salt to remove the calcium and magnesium in hard water through a process of ion exchange. But they also create salt water waste as a by-product. This salt water goes down the drain and into the water supply, where it will inevitably have to be removed to make the water drinkable again. In short, traditional ion water softeners not only waste water–they also add sodium contamination!

But with a no-salt water softener system, hard water problems can be eliminated without either of these drawbacks. Instead of relying on sodium to eliminate the calcium and magnesium, these innovative water treatment systems accelerate the transformation of the dissolved minerals into nanoparticles. The tiny crystals of calcium and magnesium pass harmlessly through your plumbing and appliances with no scaling and no damage. Saltless water softeners:

• Use no electricity
• Need no special drain
• Provide “soft” water at very low cost
• And can be installed in areas with restrictions on salt systems

If you’re in the market for a better water softener, contact your water treatment company today. These professionals can help set you up with the right no-salt water softener and water filtration systems for your specific needs. You don’t have to choose between hard water and the disadvantages of an ion exchange system: get a salt-free water softener and get the best of both worlds!

Worried about water quality? Install a whole house water filtration system and reap the benefits of cleaner, safer, better-tasting water today!

Whether you’ve recently learned that your municipal water supply isn’t as clean as you thought or you’re simply concerned about ensuring your tap water is as safe and clean as possible, a home water filtration system is a great way to safeguard you and your family. Offer numerous benefits at a relatively low price, water treatment systems for homes and businesses are a cost-effective way to make certain all of your water is truly clean and clear!

Water filtration systems:

• Protect you against microbes. While different water treatment systems have varying levels of effectiveness, nearly all reduce the levels of microbes in your tap water. Viruses, bacteria, and parasites like Giardia and Cryptosporidium parvum can all be present in well water as well as some municipal water supplies, and all of these microbes can make you and your family sick. By filtering your water, you can reduce any populations of these pathogens in the water you use for drinking, bathing, and washing. Reverse osmosis systems are among the most effective treatments for eliminating microbes.

• Reduce lead in your water supply. Even if your municipal water supply does not contain significant levels of lead, the water coming out of your tap may. How is this possible? It’s because lead in your water actually comes from your house! Lead in old pipes and solder can leach into your water and create health issues for you and your family. However, many whole house water filtration system options can remove the lead from your home’s water, preventing your family from ingesting this potentially hazardous metal.

• Make water taste better. From chlorine used to treat public water supplies to sulfurous tastes of well water, some water just doesn’t have a very good flavor. But by installing a water treatment system for your home or business, you can not only make your water safer, you can also remove the aftertastes that make your water unpleasant to drink!

And don’t forget, salt-free water softeners can also improve the quality of your household water supply. While hard water does not typically cause health problems, it can create issues with scaling that will damage your pipes and appliances that use water. By installing a water softener system as part of your comprehensive at-home water treatment system, you can help protect your home’s infrastructure as well as the health and safety of your family.

If you’re ready to learn more about how a water filtration system can help improve your water supply, contact your area water treatment company for more information today!

Make sure your family is drinking clean, safe water! Water filtration systems can eliminate a huge range of contaminants in your tap water to ensure it’s clean and safe to drink.

Think the water coming out of your tap is pure and clean? Then think again. It’s easy to assume that the water we drink everyday is safe, but the simple truth is there may be any number of contaminants lurking in your water supply. Both well and municipal water supplies can channel pollutants right through your tap and into your glass! But the good news is that a water filtration system can help you move beyond less-than-desirable water quality and get the clean, fresh water you deserve.

Between the chemicals used to treat water supplies and the contamination caused by increased agricultural and urban runoff, there are a lot of nasty chemicals floating around in your water. Just a few of these pollutants can include:

• Chlorine
• Chloramines
• Pesticides
• Herbicides
• Industrial solvents
• VOCs (volatile organic compounds)
• SOCs (synthetic organic compounds)
• THMs

Any and all of these chemicals can cause health issues if consumed in high enough concentrations, so it’s important to get them out of your water supply. With a carbon-based home water filtration system you can easily and completely remove these types of contaminants from your water for just pennies a day. An affordable investment in your home and your health, whole house water filtration systems can ensure every faucet, showerhead, and appliance hookup is supplied with safe, fresh water.

So if you’re concerned about water pollution and your health–and the health of your children–don’t just keep drinking that dirty water! Take control of your water quality with a water treatment system. Your water will taste better and be better. Your local area water treatment companies can help, so contact them today to get started.

Save the Earth, save the animals, and save your bank account through responsible water treatment and heating solutions! With a simple tankless water heater or reverse osmosis system installation in your home or business, you can be part of the solution and not the problem!

Did you know that out in the currents of North Pacific Ocean, there floats a network of trash thought to be larger than the area of the State of Texas? It’s known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or the Pacific Trash Vortex, and a significant portion of this nautical garbage dump is comprised of plastics. These plastics have a negative effect on wildlife, such as albatross and fish, which in turn affect other animals in the food chain, including humans. Not only that–as these plastics break down, they release dangerous chemicals into the water.

What a pathetic human achievement.

Thankfully, there is a way you can help. And it’s both easy and affordable. Cut out your dependency on plastic water bottles, and instead choose reverse osmosis system installation to provide your home or business with reliably clean, tasty water that will quench your thirst without adding another bottle to the world’s landfills, dumps, or the ranks of roadside and ocean-borne litter.

In the reverse osmosis process, pressurized water is forced through a semipermeable membrane from a strong saline solution to a weaker one. The membrane blocks the passage of salt molecules and many common drinking water contaminants. Enjoy quality drinking water without running the risk of polluting the ocean water! It’s not only responsible, it’s also cost-effective, and it saves you all of those trips to the grocery store. Call your local water treatment company today to learn more about reverse osmosis systems, and other water treatment service options, such as salt-free water softeners!

Looking for another way to “greenify” your water use? Ask your local home water experts about the installation of a tankless water heater system in your home or business! A tankless water heater only heats water as it is needed rather than keeping a vat of stored water hot all day long like traditional water heaters. This saves you energy, not to mention space! A tankless water heater means less energy spent, less wasted water, and less money down the drain!

When you go green, you save green. It’s a fact. Be more responsible for yourself and for the Earth, and call your local water treatment experts today!

We use water in almost every aspect of our home life – in the garden, kitchen, bathroom and laundry room, just to name a few. With such widespread usage, it’s extremely important to have the right water system for both our exterior and interior water needs. Outside the home, lawn care and maintenance is the major source of water use. An irrigation or sprinkler system is central to maintaining a well-kept yard with minimum labor and maximum convenience. Inside the home, water is used in a whole number of different locations. Whole-house filtration systems and water softener systems can ensure that everything from your drinking water to your shower water is free of unwelcome and unsafe substances.

Nothing looks sadder than a beautiful property with an ill-kept or dry, brown lawn. Luckily, irrigation system experts have a whole range of services to help keep your yard looking great. If you want beautiful grass all season long, sprinkler installation is a must. Whether you live in a dry area, have a large property, or just want to simplify your lawn care routine, irrigation professionals will help you find the right system for your needs. Most companies also offer ongoing sprinkler repair services and maintenance. Taking advantage of this type of regular care means that your system will stay in good condition over years of use. From installation to service, irrigation experts take on the job of keeping the water flowing so that you can simply enjoy your lawn and garden.

Inside your home you use water for drinking, washing and bathing, so the quality of the water is of utmost importance. Although your municipality does treat the water that comes in, there are, unfortunately, an enormous number of contaminants still present. Dissolved minerals such as calcium and magnesium create hard water that can damage your pipes and appliances. A salt free water softener can treat that problem so that your plumbing and your machines last longer and work better. In conjunction with a water softener, however, it is important to install an overall water filtration system for your whole home to remove substances such as chlorine, pesticides and herbicides. If left in your water, these pollutants can affect the taste of your water and the health of your family!

Simply getting water to your property does not do you much good. You need to have the right system in place to make the best use of it. For your outside water needs, lawn sprinkler installation is an excellent option. For your inside water needs, water treatment services are essential. Having an appropriate system will ensure optimal use of your water and optimal health for your home and family.