In the Kitchen
Your kitchen is one of the primary locations where you’ll realize the benefits of better water.
Soap and detergent usage can be dramatically lower with soft water. Since the water is already soft, the cleaning agents have no hardness minerals to react with and overcome, so they lather more readily and work more effectively. In fact, a large proportion of the ingredients in most soaps and detergents consists of chemical "water softeners" added to prevent the reaction between the detergent and the hardness minerals present in most water (the reaction that forms a sticky residue or soap curd). Since such chemicals are not necessary for cleaning with soft water, less soap is required. Soft water households experience considerable savings on dish soap, dishwashing detergent, hand soap and many other cleaning products. |
|
Since soft water contains no scale forming minerals, it leaves the inside of plumbing and water-using appliances free of solidified rock. Appliances operate more efficiently and last longer when using soft water. Leading appliance manufacturers, including Maytag, have recognized the problems that hard water causes and recommend the use of home water soteners to help their own products operate more efficiently.
In addition, calcium and magnesium, the two minerals that make water hard, might actually have some adverse effects on the foods you eat and the beverages you drink.
First, hardness minerals can detract from the taste of the water, as well as any beverage or food made with water, such as coffee, concentrated juice, soup or even gelatin. Other water contaminants can affect foods by imparting bad tastes or unhealthy compounds.
Second, some foods, especially fresh vegetables, don't cook or taste as good when prepared with hard water because the calcium combines with a protein in vegetable skins, making them tough and sometimes shriveled.
Related Information
|