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Archive for April, 2021

What is the Water Hardness Level in Ventura, CA?

Posted by Rayne Water

Ventura County boasts a high quality of life, including sunny days and easy access to the shoreline. But beyond the beachy lifestyle, it’s also with considering the quality of the water that comes out of your tap.

Like other counties, Ventura conducts regular surveys to make sure its water meets safety and aesthetic standards. The most recent studies reveal that Ventura water has 20-50 grains of minerals per gallon—more than twice the amount needed to be classified as “very hard” water.

In this short guide, we’ll do a deep dive into Ventura’s hard water and the steps you can take to improve your home’s H2O or if you need to install a water softener.

The Hard Facts Behind Hard Water

Hard water is measured based on the concentration of two main minerals:

What’s wrong with these minerals in your water supply? In your diet, they can help build bone and preserve heart health. But in your water, they can have several unwanted effects.1

These include:

Ventura County Water Safety

As we’ve noted, hard water isn’t a health hazard. It’s more of a concern for your wallet and comfort level.

However, it’s worth considering other aspects of water quality, too.

As your water supply makes its long journey along the California Aqueduct to Ventura County, it flows overground and underground, collecting everything from rainwater to minerals in the soil to chemical runoff. Of course, it’s processed before it makes its way to your tap, but trace levels of pollutants can remain.

Beyond hardness, Ventura County conducts testing to monitor levels of potential contaminants including:

The good news? Ventura County water quality fell within a safe range for all the above contaminants.

But some people want to make sure to filter out as much of these substances as possible. In that case, you’ll have to take matters into your own hands.

 

Get started today! We specialize in providing the purest water possible!

Correcting Hard Water

So, what can you do to improve your water’s taste, get a better-feeling shower, and prolong the life of your pipes?

There are several options.

Whether you own or rent your home, there’s a solution that suits your needs. Only care about the taste of your tap water and drinking water? You could focus on adding a reverse osmosis system to your kitchen sink. Want to preserve the pipes throughout your home? Opt for a whole-house solution.

Rayne Water Solutions for Ventura County Hard Water

The water hardness level Ventura CA advertises isn’t set in stone.

Custom home solutions make it possible to create your own private water oasis in Ventura County. Whether you’re interested in reverse osmosis, salt-free water conditioning, or a hybrid solution, we’re ready to work with your budget.

Get in touch today to learn how you can enjoy softer water with a Ventura water softener.

Find a location near you!

 

Sources: 

  1. USGS. Hardness of water. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/hardness-water?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

Ventura Drinking Water Quality: Is It Safe?

Posted by Rayne Water

Whether you’re brand-new to Ventura County or a longtime resident, it’s reasonable to wonder about the local water quality. After all, recent droughts and past wildfires could theoretically affect the quality of the water that comes out of your tap.

Luckily, it’s generally safe to drink the water in Ventura County. But that doesn’t mean it necessarily tastes good. If you are concerned about your tap water, look into a water softener or Drinking Water System!

Under state and federal regulations, the county creates an annual report on water quality. 

In this short guide, we’ll relay the most recent findings and discuss the steps you can take to upgrade your tap water.

How Ventura’s Water Sources Affect Water Quality

If you live in Ventura County, you already know that drought conditions arise on a frequent basis.

Therefore, most of the drinking water in your tap comes from another source.1 

The California Aqueduct is a concrete waterway that often flows above ground—therefore, it is exposed to open air, rain, runoff, and anything else it comes into contact with. As your water makes its long journey, it’s exposed to numerous potential contaminants.

Heat and drought lead to evaporation, concentrating the water. This can lead to even higher concentrations of unwanted substances.

However, purification plants and frequent testing ensure that water never exceeds safety levels set by the FDA and local authorities. 

Get started today! We specialize in providing the purest water possible!

 

How Ventura Water Safety Measures Up to Federal Guidelines

We’ve already told you that you can drink Ventura’s tap water.

But to assess Ventura county water quality, we’ll look at two measures: safety and aesthetics. If you want to drink the recommended eight glasses of water per day, you want to make sure it looks and tastes appealing!

Safety

Ventura water is exposed to potentially harmful substances first as it travels, and then again when it’s disinfected. 

After treatment, the county found the following (safe) levels of hazards:

While the above levels are safe for adults and children, low levels of contaminants could take a greater toll on immunocompromised individuals.

If you or a family member has an immune deficiency, it may be worth upgrading the quality of your drinking water.

Aesthetics

We’ve all been to an area where the tap water was just bad, whether because it smelled like rotten eggs, tasted like pennies, or simply looked wrong.

The good news? In Ventura, water has:

Some results were less impressive. The county found more aluminum than it would like from the perspective of taste.

Likewise, testing found numerous minerals in the drinking water, including small amounts of chloride, sulfate, dissolved solids, calcium, and magnesium.

While none of these are concerning in and of themselves, the combination of numerous minerals can affect water flavor and “hardness.”

What is Hard Water?

You want calcium and magnesium in your diet. But you don’t necessarily want it in your water.

Why is that?

Hard water has a number of downsides in regards to taking a shower or trying to keep down the cost of homeownership. Hard water has the potential impacts on the following areas:2

Finally, many people dislike the taste of hard water, finding it chalky or minerally. Unfortunately, this is the case for many residents of Ventura County. Check out the water hardness level in Ventura, California. 

Hard Water and Pets

Hard water affects people and their pets. Hopefully, your cat and dog aren’t too picky when it comes to water. But some pets, especially fish, will almost certainly have a negative reaction.

Ventura County notes that its water is not suitable in fish tanks. The high concentration of chloramines can affect fish, shellfish, and other aquatic life.

If you’re moving to Ventura with a scaly friend (or thinking of getting one), consult with your local pet store to find a suitable filter.

Other Factors that Affect Water Quality

The water supplied to you by Ventura County, and your municipality can be affected by other factors in the local vicinity.

How to Upgrade Your Water

If you’d like to improve your water quality, there are numerous solutions. You might choose to upgrade your entire household or to put a filter in one specific area of your house for clean water.

A whole-house system can improve the taste of your drinking water and cut down on your overall maintenance costs. But if you’re renting and only care about the taste of your water, troubleshoot the specific area that concerns you: your bathroom, drinking water, etc.

You have several options for filtering out potentially harmful substances.

Water Softening

True “water softeners” use ionic exchange to pull minerals out of drinking water.

Water softeners help to eliminate many of the problems outlined above. Since minerals are completely removed, they’ll no longer degrade pipes, dehydrate skin, or show up on your glasses and flatware.

Salt-Free Water Conditioning

Sometimes called “salt-free water systems,” water conditioning systems don’t replace minerals with sodium. Rather, they change the chemical composition of minerals so that they stop collecting in pipes and appliances. 

Minerals are still present in the water but are not having the same damaging effects.

Reverse Osmosis

If you want to go the extra mile, a more advanced reverse osmosis system pushes water through membranes to remove minerals along with the following compounds:

This is a popular choice for coffee aficionados who want to brew with perfectly pure, clean-tasting water. It also ensures better-tasting ice cubes.

Rayne Water’s Solutions to Improve Ventura County Water Quality

It’s one thing for your water to be safe.

It’s another thing altogether to actually look forward to a glass from your tap.

While bottled water can be a stopgap solution for issues of taste and drinkability, plastic water bottles ultimately contribute to the pollution that degrades our collective water quality over time. In contrast, adding a home filter saves on plastic while extending the lifespan of your appliances and piping.

At Rayne Water, we have solutions for every budget, from reverse osmosis to water conditioning to water softening. Get in touch today to make your Ventura County water supply clean and sustainable.

Find a location near you!

 

Sources: 

  1. Ventura County Public Works. Water quality report. https://www.vcpublicworks.org/wsd/waterquality/
  2. USGS. Hardness of water. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/hardness-water?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

How Often Does a Water Softener Regenerate?

Posted by Rayne Water

 

*Reviewed by Ken Christopher, Senior Vice President at Rayne Dealership Corporation

If you’ve taken the leap and installed a water softener, you’re likely enjoying the benefits. From easier cleaning to softer hair to longer-lasting appliances, the benefits of installing a water softener are numerous.1

Now that you’ve made the switch and are relishing in your new life of aquatic luxury, you might be wondering: how often does a water softener regenerate?

There are a wide variety of factors that affect the frequency of water regeneration.2 To help you decide whether to manually or automatically regenerate-and how often-we’ll take a deep dive into the world of water softener regeneration.

What Is a Water Softener?

You have a water softener—but do you understand what it actually does?

The first step on your journey to calculating your regeneration needs is to understand what makes water hard and how softeners correct the issue.

How hard is the water in your geographic area?

Here’s a simple breakdown of the water hardness scale:

Hard, untreated water can have numerous unwanted qualities. Yours might taste chalky, make your laundry stiff, ruin your coffee, or even take a toll on your plumbing. Luckily, a water softener can help improve your water quality and contribute to lower hard water minerals.

The Science Behind Water Softening

How does a water softener work?  Through the process of ion exchange, water softeners emit the mineral ions in hard water, softening the water before it ever flows from your faucet3

As a result, the unwanted minerals are removed.

Get started today! We specialize in providing the purest water possible!

 

What Is Water Regeneration?

Now that you understand water softening, you’re ready to take the leap into the world of regeneration.

As water flows from your taps, the process of ion exchange repeats, and, eventually, the resin beads become inundated with these hard minerals. 

So, what do water softeners do? Simply put, water regeneration is the process by which these beads are cleaned so they can continue their mission of softening your water.

There are three main options for the water regeneration process:

How Does a Water Softener Regenerate?

Generally, the water regeneration process takes about 85 to 90 minutes and involves four main steps:4

  1. In the backwash cycle, which takes about 10 minutes, the water reverses its flow to clean the tank.
  2. Next, salt brine solution flushes out unwanted hardness minerals, which takes 50 to 60 minutes. 
  3. This salt brine and the unwanted minerals are then sent down the drain, which adds another 10-15 minutes.
  4. Finally, new water refills the tank to make more brine for the next service cycle, taking 10 more minutes.5

What Factors Affect Water Regeneration Frequency?

As we noted, the average family’s water softener should regenerate every other day. But some families might need daily regeneration, while others need it only once per week.

This begs the question once again—How often should my water softener regenerate?

To calculate the answer, you’ll want to pay attention to two main factors:

  1. Water usage
  2. Water hardness  

In addition to your water usage and water hardness, you’ll also need to know:

Once you’ve determined these two numbers, you can input your water usage and water hardness to determine how often your water softener needs to regenerate. 

The Math for an Average Family

A typical family of four might use 75 gallons each, or 300 gallons total per day. This water usage encompasses standard activities like:

If that family has 25-grain water, they’ll divide 30,000—the capacity of their softener in grains-per-cubic-foot—by 25—the hardness of their water—to find that they can soften about 1,200 gallons between each regeneration cycle.

If this family of four has a 1-cubic-foot softener and 25-grain hard water, their water softener will regenerate every other day. On the other hand, with 12-grain water, the water softener regeneration cycle would occur every four days. With 50-grain water, it would need to regenerate every day.2

How to Complete A Household Water Audit

Many homeowners are unaware of how much water they actually use. Think about it—were you surprised to learn a typical family of four might use 500 gallons of water per day?

If you need to know how much water your family uses, you can complete a household water audit. Here are three easy ways to conduct this audit:

For faucets, collect water for 10 seconds and multiply the water quantity by six to calculate gallons per minute. For toilets, turn off the water supply, mark the water line, flush, fill the tank with tap water, and measure the volume of water required to reach the water line mark. For appliances, the manufacturer should specify the flow rate. 

Measure how many times per day you use each fixture. Multiply water flow per fixture by minutes per day and water flow per appliance by the number of times it’s used per week.6

How Do I Know If My Water Softener Is Regenerating?

If you’ve gone through the process of installing a water softener, you will want to ensure that it’s working correctly, so you receive its full benefits.

Two majors factors indicate your water softener isn’t regenerating properly:

  1. Changes in water pressure
  2. Observed water hardness

Cheaply made or poorly taken care of water softeners can result in these issues.7 That’s why you should ensure you buy a high-quality water softener from a trusted company like Rayne Water.

Your H2O Superhero: Rayne Water

You might have asked yourself the question: Do I need a water softener? Once you’ve experienced the benefits of a water softener, you’ll never want to go back. Who doesn’t want softer hair, cleaner dishes, and more efficient appliances?

Rayne Water can also help you get the most out of your water softener. We serve California and Arizona, offering a wide variety of products and solutions, including water filtration, drinking water systems, and, of course, water softeners.

Contact Rayne Water for all of your water treatment needs and to improve your water quality. We’ll never leave you high and dry.

Find a location near you!

 

Sources: 

  1. Rayne Water. Benefits of Soft Water and Having a Water Softener. https://www.raynewater.com/blog/benefits-of-soft-water-and-having-a-water-softener/ 
  2. Driller. Steps for Regeneration for a Residential Water Softener. https://www.thedriller.com/articles/91297-steps-for-regeneration-for-a-residential-water-softener 
  3. Consumer Affairs. How Does a Water Softener Work? https://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/how-water-softeners-work.html#water-softener-regeneration 
  4. Ibid.
  5. SF Gate. When Manually Regenerating a Water Softener, How Long for Each Cycle? https://homeguides.sfgate.com/manually-regenerating-water-softener-long-cycle-106038.html 
  6. Maryland Department of the Environment. Conducting a Household Water Audit. https://mde.state.md.us/programs/water/waterconservation/Documents/www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/ResAudit.pdf 
  7. Best Spy. How Do I Know My Water Softener Is Working? https://www.bestspy.org/how-do-i-know-my-water-softener-is-working/ 
  8. Rayne Water. How Does a Water Softener Work? https://www.raynewater.com/blog/how-does-a-water-softener-work/ 

Expert Reviewer – Ken Christopher

Do I Need a Water Softener?

Posted by Rayne Water

If you’re less than happy with your tap water, you might find yourself wondering, Do I need a water softener?

Water softeners are one of the most popular solutions for troubleshooting your spouts. In this short guide, we’ll discuss when and why you might need one.

What is Hard Water?

Before we dive in, it’s worth discussing the basics of hard water.1

How a Water Softener Can Help

Water softeners physically remove the minerals from your water. They work through a system of ionic exchange. Overall, soft water can cut energy costs, use less soap, and makes housework easier. 

In short, calcium and magnesium ions are exchanged for sodium (salt) ions. Since minerals are completely removed from the water, you’ll no longer have any potential negative effects. 

So, do you need a water softener? Below, we’ll look at several telltale signs that it’s time to soften your water.

How Do Water Softener Systems Work?

There are two tanks: the mineral tank (aka the resin tank) and the brine softener tank that facilitate the ion exchange process. The mineral tank does the majority of the water softening when sodium ions from brine solution swap places with the water hardness ions (mineral ions).

After this, the ion exchange resin beads combine with water, which attaches the hardness minerals to the beads. Following this step, the mineral tank is flushed with sodium chloride or potassium chloride, and the covered beads exit. 

The saltwater saturates the beads and removes any mineral ions and replaces them with a sodium ion. Finally,  the dissolved minerals are flushed and the system is ready to soften water again. 

 

#1 You (And Your Dishes) Just Don’t Get Clean

You use water to clean just about everything in your home, from your floors to your dishes to your body. If it feels like most things stay dirty, your hard water could be to blame.

Hard water can cause issues like the following:

Unfortunately, the minerals in hard water react with soap to create scum. Luckily, a water softener system can remove these minerals and, with them, the problem. 

Get started today! We specialize in providing the purest water possible!

#2 Your Laundry is Stiff as a Board

Do you find yourself shopping for dryer sheets every other week? No matter how many you include in your laundry, your clothing feels stiff and hard.

If even your coziest t-shirt chafes, the culprit is likely your hard water.

If you have hard water, minerals migrate from your water to your clothing. There’s nothing wool laundry balls can do. You need a water softener.

#3 Your Pipes Erode Quickly

Is your plumber constantly advising you to patch or replace your pipes?

It’s normal to be skeptical and prudent to get a second opinion. But hard water really can degrade pipes, especially older cast iron and copper pipes. Mineral deposits build up and eat away at the native metal over time, leading to leaks, rust, and eventually, plumbing problems. 

Of course, minerals aren’t necessarily the cause of your unpleasant water. 

However, water with a different bad taste and evidence of hardness (stiff laundry, etc.) often requires a more extensive treatment solution.

The Perfect Glass of Rayne Water

Want better water?

At Rayne Water, we make it our mission to purify your H2O. Whether you’re looking to improve the drinking water systems from a single faucet or upgrade your entire household to avoid the negative effects of hard water, we have a solution. 

If you have installed a water softener, you know the benefits of longer lasting appliances and softer hair. But you might need to know how often does a water softener regenerate? 

Get in touch today to learn more about the right water softener, water conditioner, or reverse osmosis system for your budget and needs.

We offer water treatment systems in different locations. Whether you are looking for water softener in Ventura or RO systems in Scottsdale, we can help. Contact us today!

Find a location near you!

Sources: 

  1. Water Research Center. Hard Water Hardness Calcium Magnesium Water Corrosion Mineral Scale. https://water-research.net/index.php/water-treatment/tools/hard-water-hardness