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LIMESCALE

Chalky Residue on Your Faucets

It is limescale. Call it water scale, calcium scale or limescale, it is all the same thing. It is the crusty, chalky residue from hard water that clings to faucets, creates lines in bathtubs and streaks in toilets.

There are two types of water hardness, temporary and permanent. Temporary hardness is caused by dissolved calcium hydrogencarbonate, which is removed by boiling. Temporary hardness is the white line inside a tea pot, which can be removed by boiling a half cup of water with a half cup of vinegar and then rinsing thoroughly. Permanent hardness is caused by dissolved calcium sulfate and is not removed by boiling.

limescale
Q: How many counties on either side of the Pennsylvania/New Jersey border have hard water?

All of them.

Signs of hard water:

  • Drier skin and a feeling of soap scum on your hands.
  • Pipes clog up more.
  • Spots on glasses.
  • Iron stains in your toilet.
  • Chalky residue around faucets.
Shower-head-with-limescale-buildup

Hot-water heaters are the most common place for scale formation in a home water system. This can reduce the life of the product. Other appliances are affected as well including washing machines and dishwashers as they all use hot water which produces scale faster.

Spring Rain can help with hard water issues and solutions. A water softener or scale prep system helps to eliminate the buildup of hard water scale. What you want is a way to have your appliances last as long as possible and enjoy your showers more, as well as enjoying softer skin and healthier hair. All these things can be achieved by talking to the professionals at Spring Rain.

Hard Water - 08/04/2020
hard water times

Hard (Water) Times in Quakertown, PA

On a warm summer day, the idea of getting a refreshing glass of water from the faucet is amazing! If that faucet happens to be in Quakertown water supply system, you may want to think twice. In addition to having some of the hardest water in the region, Quakertown’s public water reports have shown some concerning contaminants throughout the years.

Quakertown’s Water System

In Quakertown is delivered from a network of eleven operating wells. These wells are in and around town and are part of a geologic formation known as the Brunswick formation. In the last few years news reports have emerged that some chemicals like arsenic and Pefluorononanoic acid, or PFNA, are present in uncomfortable levels, but at levels considered acceptable by local government. In fact, many concertning contaminants are unregulated altogether.

However, what the Quakertown Borough Water Department considers ‘acceptable’ and what is acceptable for your family may differ.

qtown

Water Hardness in Quakertown

Having served the Quakertown area for many years, we have observed some of the hardest water we have ever seen. If you buy property in Quakertown and don’t immediately implement a water softening or filtering system, you will find etches on your water glasses and problems with your pipes and water-utilizing appliances – especially hot water appliances such as water heaters, boilers, washing machines, dishwashers and even coffee pots. These appliances will fail and struggle often.

While water softeners are a good idea in 85% of all American homes, we believe that water softeners are 100% essential for residents of the Quakertown area. However, water softeners are not filtration systems. They use ionization to soften the water, but do not take contaminants out of the water. If you are concerned about contaminants, you will want to look at a Reverse Osmosis System.

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Contaminants in Quakertown

Perfluorononanoic acid, or PFNA

This contaminant is a cousin to fluorine-based chemicals that have led to major drinking water contamination near Bucks and Montgomery County. A few of the wells in Quakertown have been found to have PFNA, which is considered an unregulated substance in Pennsylvania.

Last year New Jersey became the first state in the country to regulate the chemical, setting a limit of 13 ppt because animal studies suggest this chemical, while not carcinogenic, may lead to potential liver damage, increased liver weight, developmental delays, immunotoxicity issues, and male reproductive complications.

PFNA builds up in the blood from small concentrations in drinking water and is difficult for the body to excrete, and can remain in a person’s body for many years after exposure, increasing the risk of developing one of the harmful health effects.

As part of a regular program that searched for unregulated substances, from 2013 to 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency tested thousands of water supplies across the country for PFNA and other chemicals. The program included a sampling of the 11 groundwater wells the Quakertown Borough Water Department uses to provide drinking water for 12,800 residents.

PFNA was found in the borough’s Well 13, located near Krupp Park on the former land of the Krupp Foundry. Two tests there found PFNA at 35 and 32 parts per trillion (ppt). Again, PFNA is not regulated in drinking water by the EPA or its state equivalent, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

pfna

Arsenic Levels in Quakertown, PA

The most recent Arsenic levels tests place Arsenic at 10 parts per billion (ppb) at 11ppb, they would be in violation. Be sure to keep an eye on your local water quality reports, as it is not unheard of for that level to exceed the allowable level, and for the well to remain open when in violation. The last time Arsenic levels exceeded allowable levels was in 2006 in Quakertown at the public water well near S. Main. Officials at the time said that this violation did not pose an immediate public health threat. However, it is important to note that arsenic is believed to cause certain types of cancer and other ailments after prolonged exposure. 

Arsenic is an odorless, tasteless element that is a naturally occurring. It is found in water, air, food, and soil. It is linked to several types of cancer including bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, and prostate. Arsenic is highly toxic in its inorganic form. Long-term exposure to arsenic from drinking-water can cause skin lesions as well as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

arsenic

Overcoming Water Contamination

Reverse Osmosis Whole-House, or Location Specific Water Filtration Systems

Spring Rain Inc, can take your worries over water quality away, leaving you and your family with healthy, refreshing water through the system of reverse osmosis. RO systems use a series of filters that pre-treat your water and then filter that water through a permeable membrane. The pore size of a reverse osmosis filter is 1000 times smaller than the standard filter size of the leading competition, which is 1 micron. These units can be installed in a variety of locations. Many choose to filter just their sink/drinking water while others prefer a whole-home solution. Learn where you can place an RO system here.

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Benefits of a Reverse Osmosis System

• Clear and fresh water with no odors.

• Absorption of toxic substances inside the filter system, including sulfates, arsenic, aluminum, parasites, and viruses.

• Chemical-free water that contains very few dissolved solids and is a cut above many filters.

• Elimination of hard water stains or mineral deposits on showers, tubs, and sinks. 

reverse osmosis

DID YOU KNOW? While RO systems used to require 4 gallons to create 1 gallon of clean water, we now offer a 1:1 system!

residential water treatment - 05/23/2020
where to put a reverse osmosis system

Where to Put a Reverse Osmosis System

You're ready for clean water, but let’s talk about where a reverse osmosis system (ROS) should be installed to get the biggest benefit for you and your family for fresh clean water.

Under the sink:

  • This is the most common place for a Reverse Osmosis System (ROS)
  • Either the kitchen sink or bathroom sink
  • Connecting an under the kitchen sink ROS to your refrigerator will allow ice cubes to be clear
under-sink-ro-unit

Whole House Reverse Osmosis for Homes with a Well

  • If you get your drinking water from a private well, then a ROS is an excellent way to ensure that the water flowing to your tap is safe
  • A reverse osmosis system is a perfect way to remove difficult contaminants often found in well water, like nitrates
well-water-ro-unit

For the Main Water Supply for Homes With City Water

  • City Water is treated before it reaches your home - but some cities do better than others, and many contaminants are completely unregulated, despite being linked to a variety of health concerns. All towns are required to post their water quality reports online. Peruse your town or city's water reports to decide if a whole house reverse osmosis system would be best for your family.
  • A reverse osmosis system is a perfect way to remove difficult contaminants often found in well water, like nitrates
ros main water

For a Saltwater Aquarium:

  • Reverse osmosis allows you to strip all minerals from the water and add the amount of salt you need back in with a remineralizing filter
  • Most aquarists rely on a combination of reverse osmosis and deionization (known as RO/DI water) to ensure their fish are immersed in highly pure water to match the fish’s natural environment
Ro-system-for-aquarium

For your greenhouse:

  • Where plants are misted or in small gardens, depending on the types of plants
  • When doing hydroponic farming which eliminates soil, and instead nurtures fruits and flowers with only nutrient-rich water, high-quality water is of utmost importance to hydroponic success.
greenhouse-ro-unit

In RVs:

RO systems require draining which makes it a bit tricky as drain hookups aren’t located at campsites. A ROS can though be very helpful when your RV adventuring takes you out into the wilderness. Think of times you have gone camping or RVing and had to get water from a stream or river. The ROS can remove harmful bacteria among other things.

RV-ro-unit
residential water treatment - 04/07/2020
will reverse osmosis work

Will a Reverse Osmosis Water System Work for You?

New York City water is some of the best tasting water in the world. Surprising right? Often called the champagne of tap water. Pretty impressive. Water for New York City is brought in from upstate reservoirs and tested for pathogens and lead. They also spend millions of dollars keeping it that way.

    Now what about the water in your home?
  • Are you concerned about contaminants?
  • Is there a funny or ‘off’ taste to it?
  • Are you tired of spending money on bottled water?
    • Then a reverse osmosis water system may be in your future!

How does a reverse osmosis system work?

This is a system that pushes water through a prefilter to remove chlorine and sediment, then to a membrane of small pores to remove dissolved solids from the water before passing through a post filter to a dedicated faucet. Reverse osmosis blocks contaminants from entering the less concentrated side of the membrane, leaving clean water to flow through.

Depending on the system you choose, reverse osmosis systems have various stages depending on their number of prefilters and postfilters, up to five.

All reverse osmosis water systems contain a sediment filter and a carbon filter in addition to the RO membrane. The filters are called either prefilters or postfilters depending on whether water passes through them before or after it passes through the membrane.

reverse-osmosis-process

What can the filters remove?

  • Sediment Filters: reduces particles such as dust, rust, and dirt.
  • Carbon Filter: reduces chlorine, and other contaminants that give water a bad taste or odor.
  • Semi-permeable Membrane: removes up to 98% of total dissolved solids.

Is having a reverse osmosis system give you healthier drinking water?

Having a Reverse Osmosis (RO) water tank makes making healthy water easier to access. Your filtration system will clean the water and send it to the storage tank, when you turn on your faucet the water, which goes through another post filter is there. If you chose not to have the storage tank, it will take a bit for the water to go through the system. And really who likes to wait for a glass of water?

    A reverse osmosis water will:
  • Reduce harmful dissolved contaminants
  • Sodium reduced
  • Bad tastes and odors reduced
  • Environmentally better than bottled water
Uncategorized - 03/07/2020

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