Northeast Water Systems FAQ

What is water conditioning?
A: Water conditioning is that branch of engineering that determines the chemical characteristics of a water supply, as it enters your home and treats these characteristics to provide water more suitable and economical for household use.

Why is it essential to improve water quality?
A. Beyond being an absolute necessity of life, water is an outstanding cleaning agent. The trouble is that nature and/or your municipal water company does a lot of things with water before you have a chance to use it in your laundry or at your kitchen sink. You get it second hand. Therefore improving your water quality by water conditioning is just as essential as any other home appliance.

Does the conditioned water have a "different" taste?
A. Taste is difficult to define as no two people have the same sense of taste. A water conditioner will remove certain minerals from the water, giving you cleaner, better tasting water.

Will conditioned water give a cleaner, brighter wash?
A. Yes. For best results, you should use the proper amount of laundering agent. Keep in mind a 70% - 80% soap saving can be achieved with conditioned water. Learn to use less laundering agent because none of the cleansing compound will be wasted as in hard water cleaning. The amount of laundering agent you use depends on its effectiveness, the volume and temperature of water, the size of the wash load and the type and amount of dirt and grime.

What effect will conditioned water have on plumbing?
A. Before the water was conditioned the hard water caused a scale buildup in the hot water pipes and water heater. Scale acts as an insulating material. In the water heater, scale reduces heat transmission, wastes fuel, and often causes heating coil and tube failure. The installation of a water conditioner not only prevents further scale formation but will gradually remove previously formed scale deposits. A recent study indicates that softened water offers a saving of 23% in energy cost in the operation of a hot water heater.

Are the minerals which a conditioner removes from hard water essential to
health?
A. No. The quantity of minerals found in hard water is not essential to good health.

Is the sodium in softened water harmful to people on restrictive diets?
A. Much depends on the strictness of the diet itself. When the patient is on an extremely restrictive diet, he should drink neither hard nor softened water. Under these conditions he should have de-mineralized water, distilled water, or water known to be free of sodium for drinking and for the cooking of foods. Such patients are commonly hospitalized. In establishing a salt free diet for patients, physicians should not overlook the fact that even hard water may contain appreciable amounts of sodium. To determine the amount a complete analysis of the water is necessary.

How much sodium is added to softened water?
A. Each grain per gallon (GPG) hardness removed adds 7.875 milligrams mg of sodium to a liter of water, which is approximately one quart. The average daily sodium intake of an adult individual is 3 000 to 4 000 milligrams and the average fluid intake is 1.6 to 2.0 liters per day. A liter is slightly more than four 8 ounce glasses of water. Two liters per day or 8.4 eight ounce glasses of water amounts to a total sodium intake from a source of softened 8 GPG water of 125.16 milligrams. This is approximately 3% of the average daily sodium intake.

There is another way to answer this question, and that depends on the hardness of your raw water. The following table shows the additional amount of sodium consumed by drinking one quart of softened water.

How does this sodium content of conditioned water compare to
sodium found in common foods?
A. The data in the following table demonstrates the usual range of sodium in
common foods.

It is important to note that about 2/3 of the daily water intake of any individual is through food and only about 1/3 from water itself.

For individuals concerned with sodium intake we offer a Potassium substitute. This would be used instead of salt in the brine tank.

Potassium Substitute

How much potassium will be added to my water?
A. Assuming you drink 2 quarts of water per day, you would add the following amounts of potassium to your diet, depending on the initial hardness of your water.

The following amounts of potassium would be present in some common fruits and vegetables.

Contact us if you additional questions about the water that you consume.

See Water Symptoms for more specific information on water quality.

We are now able to drill wells
We have purchased a well drilling rig and capabilities include
drilling new wells, making wells deeper and replacing well pumps.

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Northeast Water Systems, LLC
Kendall, NY
(585) 943-9225
info@northeastwatersystems.com