Hard water, such as the water found in the San Antonio area, is water that has a natural amount of minerals, like calcium and magnesium that is excessive. This is the cause of many problems for homeowners. Hard water causes dishwashers to fail at cleaning dishes, and cuts the efficiency of home hot water heaters by as much as sixty percent.

Hard water also makes it harder for residents of San Antonio to feel clean, no matter how long they bathe or shower. Any home appliance that holds water, including coffee makers, pots and pans, may have a shorter span of usability due to this problem. The issue is so serious in South Texas that people in other states have heard about the situation. Many homeowners don't know how to confirm what level of hard water exists within their home.

The water supply for every city varies as to the amount of hardness. Independent studies haverevealed that the average home in San Antonio has almost ninety pounds of rock brought into the home by a water supply. That is a staggering amount of material to creep into a home through the water supply.

In addition to damaging expensive appliances, like water heaters, hard water costs families a lot of money. Appliances exposed to hard water lose valuable operating life by at least 30 percent. Hot water heaters are the appliances that suffer most from this problem. The effect on hot water heaters is on the length of their usable life. Rather than lasting 10 to 15 years, hard water reduces that to less than 10 years. This problem gets even worse when you consider the cost of maintenance and also the tendency of appliance manufactures to charge a great deal for repair that it may be cheaper to purchase a brand new appliance.

There are actions that families can take to alleviate this problem. The initial step is to have an analysis done on the water supply, to figure out the amount of water hardness. There are numerous places in San Antonio where homeowners can get advice on how to get this done.

Once the hardness of the water is known the next step is the installation of a water softener. The cost of a quality water softener can vary from $400 to $1,500, depending on the quality and size of the water softener system. Some water softener systems operate automatically while others require periodic setting and checking. No matter what the requirement is, the results justify the effort involved. The active compound in water softeners that reduce water hardness is salt. Using the correct kind of salt matched to the water softener system in use is very important. The source or supplier of a home water softener can explain all these points to a homeowner's satisfaction. After a water softener system is set up, it is still best to have the water hardness level checked at least once a year.