Will buying a 'water softener' to hook up ($300) get rid of chlorine in water?
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at
1:55 am
We have city water, and the chemicals i swear are killing my hair. it makes it really straw like, no matter what kind or how much conditioner i use. I’ve tried everything, and even my clothes seem to be suffering. When you turn my water on, the first thing you smell is a chlorine-like smell
Will buying a water softener (those things you hook to the hot water tank) make things better?
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Filed under: Water Filter System
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A water softener will not remove chlorine odor. It will remove the hardness minerals (calcium, magnesium).
Since you are on city water the easiest thing to do is call your water provider and ask them what the hardness is. They will give a number that will help determine what size water softener you need.
You can buy a softener online or buy one through a company like Culligan. If you go with Culligan you will get a service contract. However it will cost about 4 times as much as buying one yourself. It is your choice, they do provide great service at a premium price.
The unit must be connected to the incoming water line to your house. Unless you have some plumbing knowledge it is best to hire a plumber for this part.
This is a company I have ordered from before. I was very happy with their service and prices.
http://www.qualitywatertreatment.com
If you decide to get a softener go with a dealer like I listed or Culligan, Kinetico, ETC. Whatever you do don’t buy a softener at a home center. They are junk, you can read all over the net about probelms people have with the home center models.
it is not necessarily the chlorine that is doing a job on your hair. the chlorine is best removed with a 2 part filter system used for drinking water. Ithe minerals dissolved in water , often lime, are what water softeners attack. you need to find out the cause of the problem(s) first. I would add a filter system deigned for drinking water first and try washing your hair with that water for a while. If this works and you are willing to wash your hair in the kitchen sink: problem solved and you will have pleasant tasting water, or you could have a whole house system. You need to know if you have hard water (lots of dissolved minreals) to know if you need a softener. the minerals won’t boil away so if you boil a pot of water and see a significant chalky residue than you may have hard water.
see, adding a water softening system for sure will help you hair, clothes, and appliances. That is only if you do have hard water in your area. Hard water is water that contains high levels of calcium carbonate. It has nothing to do with the chlorine levels which are added at water treatment plants to kill bacteria.
So first of all make sure that you do have hard water before you install a water softner. You can do that by checking some signs.
1. White chalky like residue in your appliances (dishwasher, washing machine)
2. White chalky rock like deposits in the bottom of your kettle
3. Soap doesn’t foam much
4. Clothes tend to be a bit crispy and hard.
If you suffer from these problems then yes you should install a water softner and yes it would help fix these symptoms but it would have no effect on the chlorine smell in the water.
A water softener does not remove chlorine, it removes hardness and some organics. Hardness is a term used to describe metal content in the water, typically, magnesium, calcium, and iron. These three metal exist in the water as positive metal ions, and they are typically removed by using a ion selective resin that requires regeneration with table salt. Anything you buy must have a regeneration step using table or rock salt. If it doesn’t, then it’s nothing more than a $300 filter.
You indicated that your water has a chlorine odor. The odor threshold for chlorine is very low….that is, you nose can detect it at very low levels. But if you really want to find out if it’s chlorine, go to your local walmart and find the section where they sell pool chemicals. In that section you can find test strips for measureing chlorine in swimming pools. Using the test strip will tell you just how much chlorine you have. For health reasons, your drinking water should have between 2 to 5 part per million (ppm) chlorine in the water. Anything less than that is unsafe to drink.
And once again, I don’t think the chlorine is damaging your hair as much as the hardness in the water.
not if u only hook it up to the hot water tank…..then it will only be working on the hot water side and doing nothing for the cold water…..sounds like u need a WHOLE HOUSE filter….i would get the charcoal filter because that will take care of the odor and taste of the water for u…..if u can pout one in the u could go to any hardware store and get the small one for less than $50 and as long as its the charcoal filter ur water should have less odor and taste better
like the experts here are saying it’s not a water softener you need necessarily if you have a basement and easy access to your incoming water line, try putting a whole house water filter in. these can run up to $100 for a good one, even a 2 filter one.
i have put one on our house years ago it has the charcoal, then it goes through another more cleansing filter. these remove bad taste, chemicals and other impurities that don’t get filtered out through our city’s massive system.
remember though for 2 people you should change filters no later than every 6 months, more people sooner, so look at the systems the cost of filters and make your decision
if your any type of d.i.y.er and have copper or plastic pipes you can change this yourself in less than an hour total time.
just remember the filter is plastic so don’t put your connections you are soldering right next to it you will melt the threads and ruin your filter.
these filters do wonders for the quality of your water, not to mention the life of all your appliance, and the taste of your coffee,tea, or other beverages. not to mention your hair
A softiner will lower the chlorene. If the chlorene is excessive it will ruin the resin bed and turn it to mush.