Shower Head Filters for Hard Water?

[marnold]

I am probably not the only person who notices a huge difference in their hair when it is washed at a salon compared to washing it in your home...

I have often seen the shower head filters in the hardware stores. I am curious if anybody actually has one of these and it works to soften your water. DH is not ready to install a softener for the entire house but I think he would go for a shower head unit.

The only water quality issue I care about at the shower head is the removal of the minerals which are making our water hard. We have wonderful tasting and smelling water otherwise.

TIA!

 

[materialsgirl]

I might be mistaken, but softening and filtering are two completely different things. A showerhead filter will do just that - filter particulates from the water. But I don't think it will do anything to soften the water. Softening water requires ion exchange, which filters don't do. You need salt in order to have ion exchange. Now maybe there are showerhead filters that have this ability... that I don't know. But if you just get a straight up water filter, you won't get soft water from it. HTH.

 

[marnold]

Thanks Emily...I found some on the internet which CLAIM to do both...hopefully someone has one of these and can enlighten me.

here is a picture and link of what I am talking about...

http://www.aquasana.com/images/shower_shot5.jpg

http://www.aquasana.com/product.cfm?id=2&discountcode=sfcGO

 

[materialsgirl]

Melissa, I read the description and don't see where it says it actually softens the water. This is just a filter. A two-stage filter, yes, but still, just a filter. There's no ion exchange going on here. They claim you will have softer skin and hair, but it's not because the water is being softened - it's because it's removing chlorine, and chlorine dries everything out. It doesn't claim to do anything about the ions that cause hard water.

 

[marnold]

Hey Emily, I see your point...I wonder if it would help my poor hair at all? My hairdresser had something similar under the sink yesterday...dang I should have asked her about it. I feel like a dork!

 

[geojill]

Emily's right (I actually studied this in chemistry recently!). What you need is a water softener and the shower head unit will remove chlorine and whatnot, but not the hard minerals in the water. Natural spring water may not have chlorine and other contaminants in it but it oftentimes will still have a lot of the hard minerals in it, especially depending on what the underlying soil is.

When I was a teenager, the place I lived at in NM had VERY hard water. When we'd visit my grandmom in Philly and shower at her place, it was like bathing in rain because the water was so soft!

 

[materialsgirl]

It may very well help, especially if water in your area is heavily chlorinated. But if you also truly have hard water (with calcium, magnesium and iron ions), then this shower head will only take care of part of the problem. Here's a good article on hard water:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water
There are simple kits you can buy at the hardware store to test the hardness of your water. And if you do have hard water, then it's worth noting that installing a water softener is a pretty easy plumbing job that you and/or your DH could do in a few hours. DH installed our water softener and it makes a HUGE difference. I can tell immediately when the salt is getting low, because my hair isn't as soft and my skin gets yucky (technical term).

 

[marnold]

Thanks guys...I think you guys are right and this thing will probably do nothing but cost me tons of money for filter replacements if it is hard water.

I will pick up a water quality test today just in case it is the chlorine which makes my hair feel yucky.

One more question, since my water is going to a septic tank, should I be concerned about installing a water softener?

I am very careful what I put down the drain...can you tell?

I know this is going to be a HUGE battle with DH because it will remove ALL of the minerals which he says are so beneficial. I argue that those minerals make stones in my kidney...

 

[materialsgirl]

LOL! Hard water doesn't really have any health benefits or detriments, as far as I know. I don't think softened water is a problem for septic tanks - in fact, it may be beneficial for the bacteria that break down the wastes in your septic tank. From the Water Quality Association website:

"The addition of sodium to a septic system by use of soft water actually has beneficial effects on the digestion of wastes by bacteria. The volume of wastes from water softeners (about 50 gallons per regeneration) are added to the septic tank slowly and are not of sufficient volume to cause any deleterious hydraulic load problems. In fact, they are lower in volume and rate of addition than wastes from automatic washers. And the calcium and magnesium in softener regeneration wastes contribute to good air and water movement (improved soil percolation) through the septic system drainage field.

The University of Wisconsin and the National Sanitation Foundation reports clearly indicate that when the sodium content from the softener regeneration cycle is discharged into the soil via a septic system along with other salts such as calcium, magnesium, and iron the result is an improvement in the soil's percolation rather than a detriment."

And here's a rather lengthy article about it:
http://www.caitechnologies.com/wate...ater-softener-discharge-on-septic-systems.htm

 

[marnold]

Thanks Emily. I feel evil now! I will be printing this and presenting it to DH today at lunch! You rock!