13jerry
New Member
does a water softer shorten the life of your water heater
I am considering a water softener because the water here is hard as concrete. What are the drawbacks? I have heard it can cause copper plumbing corrosion. ARE there any drawbacks?
My experience is a little different. First, this WH is primarily storage for a solar water heating system. It's a lot more effective than I thought it would be, mostly, I believe, due to a very efficient solar-powered pump. The hot water out of the faucets is typically 160°F during sunny weather, and we get a lot of it, even in the dead of winter. Second, the Hach SRB tests have shown no H2S or sulfate reducing bacteria in the well water for years, although my nose doesn't trust them (H2S can be detected by smell at a concentration of 0.5ppm). Third, I didn't have the odor before softening the water. Finally, by changing only the anode rod I got rid of the odor. Much as I believe in theory and science, I'm very pragmatic.And that proves the odor is not caused by softened water or the anode rod. The odor is caused by SRB ([harmless] sulfate reducing bacteria) and some sulfates in the water for the bacteria to survive and the type of anode rod that allows the bacteria to use a hydrogen ion from it to produce H2S gas and its resulting odor.
This is awkward, but...
It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.
If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.