Water Quality Facts and FAQs

Water softeners regulate water by removing the magnesium and calcium that is found in your water supply. They use a process of ion exchange, transforming your water from hard water to softened water. Unlike hard water, softened water will not damage your home’s plumbing, or cause a build up of scale in your appliances; improving their effectiveness and lifespan.

If you start noticing white scale buildup on surfaces and water using appliances, it is a sign of hard water or water impurities. Look for scale in sinks, faucets, showers, and bathtubs. You will notice spotty dishes and cutlery, as well as discolored fabrics that still seem dirty even after coming out of the wash. It’s also harder to lather with hard water and you will see hard water soap scum in your bathtub.

Almost all water contains tiny traces of minerals, contaminants, impurities, and even microorganisms – but they don’t all necessarily have negative health impacts. That said, household water that has been treated to meet health and safety standards may still pick up contaminants that you don’t want in your water as the water makes its way from the treatment plant to your home.

Common contaminants in water include, but are not limited to: minerals, metal particles from corroded pipes, and sediment buildup from your own hot water tank.

Safe water can be defined as water that meets all Federal and State water quality regulations. Your municipality may provide you an annual water report called: Consumer Confidence Report in which you can find out if your city is meeting Federal water quality regulations.

It’s sometimes as easy as using your senses – you can often see, taste, smell, and feel contaminated water.

Safe water should be colorless, odorless and taste good! Watch out for rotten-egg, metallic, chemical, and musty or earthy smells and tastes – if it smells or tastes bad, it’s likely contaminated. However, not all contaminants can be detected by our senses alone – contaminates like lead, nitrates and organic compounds are odorless and colorless and need to be tested by a water testing lab.

Lastly, if you can smell and taste chlorine, remember that it’s there for safety and disinfection as it travels to your home. Once the water is in your home, you might want to get rid of it in order to better enjoy the taste of your water and protect your plumbing and appliances from chlorine damage.

Softened water can save your appliances, keep money in your wallet, and benefit the environment.

Studies show that hard water can lower the efficiency of appliances and shorten their lifespan, meaning you’ll have to replace them sooner. Not only that, but when your appliances don’t run efficiently, you’ll use more water to get the job done – think of running the dishwasher twice or doing another load of laundry because things didn’t come out clean the first time! With softened water, you can lower your water temperatures from hot to cold when doing laundry without having to worry about performance – your garments will come out just as clean, if not cleaner, saving you money on your energy bill while lowering your carbon footprint! This will also extend the life of your clothing.

Additionally, you’ll be able to reduce dish soap and laundry detergent use by half or more with softened water. You’ll also use less shampoo and soap in the shower, and notice smoother, softer skin and hair.

A whole home carbon filter will block out contaminants and reduce harmful chemicals like chlorine from entering your home.

Improving the quality of your drinking and cooking water with a reverse osmosis system can benefit your health, encourage you and your family to drink more water, and save you from buying expensive bottled water – a family of four can save up to 3,000 bottles of water a year!

The main difference is that a water softener turns hard water soft, while a water refiner will not only soften hard water, but also filter out other contaminants that affect the taste and odor of drinking water.

A water softener like Pura Soft removes hard minerals like calcium and magnesium from water by running the hard water that comes into your house through a tank full of food grade resin beads where the hard water minerals are removed. The result is softened water that leaves you with smooth skin and soft hair, and prevents scale from building up in your plumbing fixtures and home appliances.

A water refining system like Pura Refine or Pura Refine Max uses those same food grade resin beads to remove hardness minerals as well as high-quality catalytic carbon to remove other contaminants from the water such as chlorine, chloramines and sediment. Consider it an all-purpose, clean water system for the entire home that provides you with both softened and great-tasting water.

Point-of-entry (POE) water treatment systems are designed to reduce hardness and/or contaminants throughout your entire home for daily use, such as showering or doing laundry and dishes. Examples include water softeners like Pura Soft and water refining and filtration systems like Pura Refine and Pura Refine Max.

Point-of-use (POU) products treat water right before you consume it. This includes gravity devices such as countertop pitchersand reverse osmosis units installed underneath sinks. Pura Fresh is an example of a POU product.

A carbon filter uses activated carbon to physically block out contaminants, on top of reducing harmful chemicals through adsorption. Water is pressure-forced through activated carbon filters to effectively remove contaminants such as chlorine, sediment and more. Through the carbon filtration process, unpleasant odors and tastes are also removed, leaving your water tasting fresh. Carbon filter systems can be used as a point-of-entry device for your whole home, like Pura Clean, or as a point-of-use device for specific taps.

Reverse osmosis systems (RO systems) act as a final barrier by treating water right before consumption. They are usually installed on, in, or underneath a sink. RO systems work by forcing water through multiple filters and a reverse osmosis membrane designed to grab particles and contaminants. RO systems effectively reduce lead, copper, arsenic, fluoride, and many other chemicals in your water by removing impurities as small as an atom! Pura Fresh uses this technology to provide your home with = healthy, great-tasting water.

Although both options create fresh-tasting drinking water, the main difference between the two is that reverse osmosis uses many more filtration steps including a reverse osmosis membrane to remove a wider range of contaminants (and smaller particles),  giving you bottled quality water at your tap.

Choosing and installing a water softener is not a good DIY project for the average homeowner. Choosing the wrong system can lead to poor results and an improper installation can result in flooding or damaged plumbing.

Pura’s expert team will help you find the perfect water softener for your unique needs and install it quickly and safely.

The cost of a water softener will vary depending on the level of hardness and your home’s plumbing setup.

Contact our experts to schedule a free consultation.