Let’s face facts: Burnet County and the surrounding area has terrible water. It’s incredibly hard, and when it’s not city water, it often contains harmful contaminants. Luckily, there are solutions, falling into three main categories:
- Water Softeners
- Reverse Osmosis
- Whole House Filters
So, let’s dive into these three options and a few things to consider for each.
Water Softeners
1. Softer Hair, Skin, and Clothing
Hard water strips the body of its natural oils, leaving dry, brittle skin and hair instead. Showering in hard water leaves an insoluble, sticky soap scum film on your body, so what may feel “clean” is actually much less.
2. More Effective Cleaning Products
Hard water contains calcium and magnesium ions, which makes it difficult for most modern cleaning products, including laundry detergent, auto cleaners, dishwasher soap, and more, to adequately lather and attach to whatever needs cleaning. With soft water, use less cleaning products more effectively.
3. Hard Water is Expensive
Mineral scale will fill your water heater, shower head, faucets, and more, decreasing efficiency across your entire home system. Hard water buildup will also cause increased wear and tear on all your piping, fixtures, and appliances, meaning faster breakages and more difficult, costlier repairs.
4. Required for Reverse Osmosis Systems
If you are using well water, it’s likely that you need a Reverse Osmosis drinking water system to remove harmful contaminants. The catch? RO systems require soft water, so having one already installed makes the switch much easier.
Whole House Filters
1. Clean Water for the Entire Home
Whole house water filtration systems are hooked up directly to your home’s main water supply. From there, they filter out contaminants, and filtered water is then sent through your home’s pipes to feed into your faucets, showerheads, toilets, and appliances.
Unlike reverse osmosis filters that typically only clean small amounts of water at a time for drinking, whole house water filter systems filter every drop of water in your home.
2. Cost Savings
By eliminating contaminants, whole house water filters can extend the life of your home’s pipes and water-using appliances. And if your family buys bottled water, then a whole house water filtration system can save you hundreds of dollars annually.
Next Steps + Brands
Request a free, no obligation water test and estimate, and Brandenburg plumbing would be happy to test your water for hardness and contaminants and provide a free quote.
Brandenburg Plumbing services all brands, and recommends the following for new installations:
Water Softeners - Clack WS1 Heads
Reverse Osmosis Systems - Watts Kwik Change 4-stage RO
Whole House Water Filters - Boshart 10” filters (carbon and/or sediment)
