Originally Posted by tuccillo (Post 1001806)

The water in The Villages is considered "hard" to "very hard" at about 12 grains per gallon. A water softener will reduce the hardness to essentially zero. While there is no evidence to suggest that the hardness will cause any medical issues, many people like the multiple advantages of soft water. If you don't want the small increase in sodium in the softened water you can use potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride for the resin regeneration process. Filtering to remove dirt and chlorine (pretty high in The Villages) is also a good idea in addition to a water softener. The removal of chlorine before the water softener will also extend the life of the resin used for ion exchange in the water softener.

Originally Posted by jimbo2012 (Post 1001903)

That is factually incorrect, two reasons the water here has a hardness of about 10 not 12, but that's neither here nor there.

Fact water softeners DO NOT reduce hardness to zero, they bring to about 7, which is considered neutral.

heath issues
hard water has many health benefits when compared to soft water.
Two of the most prevalent minerals in hard water are calcium and magnesium. Both calcium and magnesium are considered essential nutrients, meaning that they must be provided in the diet in order to maintain healthy body function. Calcium is a critical component of bones, and has many positive effects on the body, such as prevention of serious life-threatening and painful ailments like osteoporosis, kidney stones, hypertension, stroke, obesity, and coronary artery disease. Magnesium also has positive health effects. Inadequate amounts of magnesium in the body increase the risks for some forms of health problems, such as hypertension, cardiac arrhythmia, coronary heart disease, and diabetes mellitus.

Studies done on the health effects of hard and soft water have shown that people who drink greater amounts of soft water have much higher incidences of heart disease, as well as higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and faster heart rates than those who drink mostly hard water.

from UC Davis


.
:beer3:

Originally Posted by Mikeod (Post 1001910)

After reading this post, I decided to retest our water using the test strip I got from a softener company. Here is the result:


As you can see, the water does not test as hard, rather it shows only 3 grains per gallon. I don't have a softener, only a filter system from Nova. We have no problems with personal or clothes washing. I did have a softener years ago, but the resin tank detriorated and sent resin into our lines, contaminating the fridge filter as well as making the water undrinkable. And we were taking that resin into our bodies and cooking with it! Never again. I got the same story about the water being very hard from the softener salesman.

Originally Posted by jimbo2012 (Post 1001903)

That is factually incorrect, two reasons the water here has a hardness of about 10 not 12, but that's neither here nor there.

Fact water softeners DO NOT reduce hardness to zero, they bring to about 7, which is considered neutral.

heath issues
hard water has many health benefits when compared to soft water.
Two of the most prevalent minerals in hard water are calcium and magnesium. Both calcium and magnesium are considered essential nutrients, meaning that they must be provided in the diet in order to maintain healthy body function. Calcium is a critical component of bones, and has many positive effects on the body, such as prevention of serious life-threatening and painful ailments like osteoporosis, kidney stones, hypertension, stroke, obesity, and coronary artery disease. Magnesium also has positive health effects. Inadequate amounts of magnesium in the body increase the risks for some forms of health problems, such as hypertension, cardiac arrhythmia, coronary heart disease, and diabetes mellitus.

Studies done on the health effects of hard and soft water have shown that people who drink greater amounts of soft water have much higher incidences of heart disease, as well as higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and faster heart rates than those who drink mostly hard water.

from UC Davis


.
:beer3:

Originally Posted by tag460 (Post 1001134)

There have been numerous threads on the water here in The Villages. One question that I seen ask many times, is any type of system is needed, whether it be a water softener or filtration system? I had a three filter system installed with 20 inch filters. It has a 5 micron carbon filter, 10 micron filter and 20 micron filter. I just changed the filters after two years of use and decided to post a picture of filters that remove impurities in the water. (manufacture recommends fifteen months usage) For me money well spent!

Originally Posted by Warren Kiefer (Post 1002321)

The Villages water dept tell us there is no need for water conditioners and the water here is perfect.

Originally Posted by Warren Kiefer (Post 1002321)

The Villages water dept tell us there is no need for water conditioners and the water here is perfect.

Originally Posted by Warren Kiefer (Post 1002321)

The Villages water dept tell us there is no need for water conditioners and the water here is perfect.