The home remodeling season is in full swing, as home shows advertise around the northwestern Pennsylvania area. The winter of 2018 may have wrought changes not readily apparent to the eye, but if you are considering a kitchen or bathroom remodeling project, you will want to pay closer attention to hard water’s effects on your appliances, showers, sinks, and tubs. This season it may be time to remodel more than a room of your home. Make 2018 the time to remodel your WATER! Once and for all get rid of hard water and protect the rest of your new remodeling projects.
Take a look at the water dispenser on your refrigerator, stains on your drinking glasses, or mineral buildup on your faucets. Many kitchens in our area have these eyesores, all caused by hard water mineral buildup.
While most drinking water has small amounts of calcium and magnesium, hard water mineral levels are much higher than normal. In places where groundwater passes through areas of rocks with lots of calcium or limestone, like the Erie PA area, water tends to become “hard” with above average mineral content. You can see and taste the minerals in hard water, but even more important for your remodeling plans, hard water can have an adverse effect on major appliances and equipment.
Lime deposits, in particular, can cause issues with pipes and plumbing as it builds up and restricts water flow. The same problem occurs in appliances that use water, such as water heaters, washing machines, dishwaters, refrigerators, and icemakers. Eventually, hard water can harm these expensive appliances, causing them to leak, require service and repair or use more energy to do their jobs.
Before replacing costly appliances, consider installing a water softener during this spring’s remodeling project! You may be able to salvage appliances early on by running some white distilled vinegar through a wash cycle or the icemaker, but without fixing the hard water problem at the root, the issues will continue to “build up”.
Considering Kitchen Remodeling? Water quality affects your Cooking!
Many homes in our area that are connected to the municipal water system actually have a hard water problem – where minerals like calcium and magnesium can affect the flavor and even the color of the water used to drink and cook. Imagine all the hard work you do to ensure your family’s food is cooked to perfection, and now imagine that same food affected by the hard water in your home.
As an example, let’s take a look at the chemical reactions that go into baking bread. Calcium, magnesium and high pH levels of hard water can change the structure of gluten and hinder yeast’s ability to make bread dough rise. If your bread dough always turns out tough and rubbery, it might not be your technique, it must just be hard water!
Hard water also takes longer to boil because it increases the point that water boils. This can affect the cooking time for vegetables actually making them loose color and flavor. Even rice cooked in hard water fails to soften as well. Municipal water often has high levels of Chlorine, and this can affect the taste and color of boiled food as well. Coffee and tea are often adversely affected by hard water.
Cooks agree that pure water is essential to great cooking. In order to ensure you start every baking or cooking project with clean soft water, you can consider installing a home water filtration system that removes the chemicals, minerals and other impurities from your water before you even put it in recipe or pot. A water filter will help you on the way to delicious beverages, rice, noodles, bread, cake, soups, gravies and more! The benefits of starting your remodeling project with your home water system may be greater and more affordable than you think!
The best way to solve ALL of your homes water issues and make sure your food always tastes great is with a K5 Drinking Water Station from Kinetico Drinking Water Systems. The K5 is our best and most advanced water purification system ever. The K5 is protected by a 10-year warranty on all parts.
Learn more about the K5 and all Kinetico Drinking Water Systems.
