Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:21 am
Jazzbo I'm gonn'a jump in here and offer up some advice and thoughts. What piqued my interest is that you mentioned you had a lot of lime in your water. I have the same problem. Now I have a Roberts Water Softener. Excellent unit but like many others it doesn't/can't address the real problem. Yup..it helps, but it can't fix it entirely. Let me explain. The problem with lime in the water is that it is a dissolved mineral. It's not like "hard-water" which is a high concentration of iron in the water. I wish it was that simple. The real problem is that the lime, usually from a well drilled in limestone, is dissolved in the water and isn't extracted until it's heated. As in the hot water heater. A water-softener doesn't supply heat..so it doesn't work especially well. Yup..it'll get out the big chunks..but much of it gets past the softener. Think of it this way..dissolve a few tablespoons of sugar in a glass of warm water and it dissapears..eh? Heat it up and the sugar solidifies and falls to the bottom of the glass. Take a tray of ice-cubes out of yer freezer and drop them in a clear glass and allow them to thaw. That sediment in the bottom of the glass is lime/limestone deposit. Filters won't get it out. As a dissolved mineral it's too fine to even get picked up by carbon filters. (Pure/Britta and others) And yes, this stuff will pile up in the bottom of your hot water tank and destroy the lower element in due time. And it gunks up faucets and toilet valves and leaves a crusty residue on tubs and sinks. Rest assured a water-softener helps..but it is not a cure. I wish I had a real answer but I do not. JMHT my friend. Audie..been there..done that.