Water Hardness Map

HOME > US WATER HARDNESS MAP

When you go to the doctor, do you walk in and tell the doctor you aren’t feeling well and without examining you, he writes a prescription for high blood pressure and sends you on your way? Or do you take your car in for service, and they just put new brakes on then send you on your way? No seems silly, right? Yet, this is how the water filtration companies have approached resolving water treatment. Try one method, if that doesn’t work, then try something else and something else. This happens again and again, wasting thousands of dollars in the process.

Another issue with the water filtration industry addressing one issue by creating multiple issues. When your doctor prescribes medicine for high blood pressure and informs you it will cause nausea. Another medicine is prescribed to you for the nausea. Same with water filtration. Here are the issues:

Ion exchange (water softener):
Pro: No scale(Temporary Hardness)
Con: Adds salt to the water
Lower pH
Corrosion
Expensive

Phosphates:
Pro: Scale reduction
Con: Adds chemicals to the water
pH Swings
Calcium Phosphate scale 

Reverse Osmosis (RO):
Pro: Removes contaminants
Scale reduction
Con: Removes minerals
Corrosion makes water acidic
Expensive (to make one gallon of RO water it takes 3 gallons of water)
Needs lots of space 

Ultra Violet (UV):
Pro: Sterilizes water – killing any pathogenic bacteria, viruses and cysts
Con: Requires an electricity source to power the bulb (annual replacement)
Doesn’t remove chemicals or metals etc. from the water

Water Distillers
Pro: Effective at removing contaminants and pathogenic bacteria
Inexpensive
Con: Time consuming / slow to filter
Not very effective at removing chlorine or minerals
Removes minerals

Oxidation / Reduction (KDF):
Pro: Great for removing chlorine – especially at high temperatures
Removes heavy metals, iron and hydrogen sulfide
Con: Requires regular backwashing (with hot water) to clean the filter
Does not filter against pesticides and cysts
Doesn’t remove Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3), the cause for scale formation

We HIGHLY suggest testing for the following PRIOR to installing any type of water filtration system whether it be for scale, filtration or both. Or just know your customer’s water and be better prepared to service the equipment.  Accurately diagnosing the water should allow better service to be provided and fewer service calls.
1. Grains of hardness
2. pH
3. Chloramines
4. Chlorides (Especially for areas that use salt treatment for snow removal in the winter)
These simple test strips can be found online for around $20 for 50 test strips

Hach 2755250 5 In 1 Water Quality Test Strips

 

5 in 1 test strips are great for quick, on-site evaluations of water quality with reliable results on every test. These multi-parameter test strips test for five water quality measurements on 1 strip.

Total Hardness (as CaCO3, 0-25 gpg and 0-425 mg/L)
Total Alkalinity (as CaCO3, 0-240 mg/L)
pH (6.2 – 8.4)

Free Chlorine (0-10 mg/L)
Total Chlorine (0-10 mg/L)
The formula for checking for Chloramines:
Total Chlorine – Free Chlorine = Chloramines
Chloramine levels not exceed 0.2 ppm. If the level is above 0.2 ppm, the corrosion process begins.
** Most test kits, including the one above, test a minimum of 0.5 ppm.  If your test results read 0.0 ppm when subtracting the free Chlorine from the total Chlorine.  Check out the known cities using Chloramines .  If your city is not listed, please contact the city’s water department to confirm.  

 

Please help us help others.  If you find a city not listed, we’d love to add it on our website.  Please e-mail us at scalexpro@gmail.com. 
Please include:
The name of the Municipality
The city 
The state

 

For Chloride testing (about $55 for 40 strip bottle)
Hach 2744940 Chloride Test Strips Low Range (Range 30 to 600 mg/L) – 40 ct
Hach 2751340 Chloride Test Strips High Range (Range 300 to 6,000 mg/L) – 40 ct
Chlorides and high temperatures intensify the corrosion of plumbing and kitchen equipment.
Obviously, these test are not nearly as extensive as a professional test, but is a relatively inexpensive way to have a good idea of what is in the water.  We offer some standard professional water testing that starts at $175 (includes kit and shipping) or we can create custom test for needs you are aware of.  Please complete the contact us form for more information on this.
If you’ve lived in an area where water is ‘soft,’ you might never have of heard of ‘hard water’ but the fact is, 80% of US has some level of water hardness. Softest waters were in parts of New England, the South Atlantic-Gulf States, the Pacific Northwest, and Hawaii.
Moderately hard waters were common in many rivers of Alaska and Tennessee, the Great Lakes region, and the Pacific Northwest. Hard and very hard waters were found in some streams in most of the regions throughout the country. Hardest waters (greater than 1,000 mg/L) were measured in streams in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Arizona, and southern California. Some type of water treatment system is more of a necessity than a luxury and for many good reasons.
Hard water results from high levels of calcium and magnesium in the water supply. While studies show drinking hard water doesn’t pose a safety issue, it can present problems that can be frustrating and costly

Washing dishes, glassware and silverware, can cause spots and an unsightly cloudy coating – even more so when cleaned in dishwashers because the minerals from hard water are released faster when in contact with the heat.

Lime scale build-up on faucets, water heaters and inside pipes eventually reduces water flow and, in extreme cases, puts water-using appliances out of service and clogs pipes. Lime scale has been known to increase energy bills up to 25% because of reduced efficiency of hot water heaters.