Water Treatment 101

Water Treatment & Terminology Simplified

Water treatment isn't that complicated. Unfortunately the industry can portray it as such to market their products. Here we cover the basics regarding what is IN the water and how we TREAT it. By the time you treat the water - what matters is having clean water and a reliable system that lasts for years.
Water QualityWear & TearTreatment

What's in the Water?

Hard Water

Hard water refers to the amount of dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water (primarily calcium). The more calcium and magnesium is in the water, the harder it is! Hardness is measured in Grains per Gallon (gpg), where 1 grain is 64.8 milligrams of calcium carbonate dissolved in 1 US gallon of water.

Drinking and utility water can come from a variety of sources, with Ground Water being a prolific source across the United States. Ground water tends to be high in water hardness as water is a solvent, and absorbs minerals such as calcium and magnesium as it passes through rocks.

In Tucson and the surrounding region - we see an average of about 10 Grains per Gallon... The water here is hard!
Water hardness scale in Tucson Arizona by Tucson Water Treatment
Chlorine in the water in Tucson AZ treated by Tucson Water Treatment

Chlorine

When water is drawn from the ground and exposed to municipal delivery systems, it becomes exposed to microbes (viruses & bacteria) which can contaminate the water. Water is especially susceptible to microbe contamination during the time it is pumped from the ground and delivered to the user's tap. Nearly all municipal water treatment systems in the United States add chlorine (Cl) into the water supply to kill and prevent microbe growth.

Contaminants

Unless completely purified, all water (including bottled water), will contain various levels of contaminants. Within municipal systems, trace contaminates are maintained at safe levels as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); while bottled water contaminant levels are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These contaminants occur naturally such as minerals in the ground water, and from human causes such as industrial, agricultural, or domestic activities.
Water utilities must monitor for approximately 121 contaminants in total. Per the EPA, contaminants that may be present in source water can include:
  • Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage, septic systems, agricultural livestock, and wildlife
  • Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.
  • Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses.
  • Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.
  • Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.
Photo by Phil Goodwin @ Unsplash
*Source: Tucsonaz.gov / EPA

What is untreated water doing to you and your home?

We believe in quality water treatment, and that is why we sell it.

If you aren’t treating the water coming into your home, you may not realize what hard water is costing you - both to your body and your home!

Water is always being used in our homes. We take a shower, wash the dishes, run the dishwasher, get cold water and ice from the refrigerator, wash our clothes, wash our hands, brush our teeth, wash our faces, use the restroom, and run it through the hot water heater for most of these applications!
Water touches our bodies several times a day, and hard water can have a negative impact! Many of us end up buying soaps that are really detergents to deal with hard water, but it can be harsh on our skin and dry it out.
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With hard water, soaps become less effective and create residue, and minerals in hard water can also cause your skin to lose moisture!
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Chlorine levels in the water in the Tucson region are also typically very high. We’ve tested water in untreated homes and have often seen levels appropriate to treat a swimming pool in the summer! Chlorine dries our skin and hair out - you know that dry feeling when you get out of a swimming pool? We don’t think any of us would want to take a shower with pool water!
With our systems removing hard minerals and chlorine, you can see Softer Skin, Clearer Skin, and Smoother/Silkier Hair!

Between the plumbing in your house and all of the appliances that touch water, you have a lot of money invested into your:
  • Hot Water Heater
  • Dish Washer
  • Clothes Washing Machine
  • Refrigerator
  • Bathtub and Shower Heads
  • Faucets & Fixtures
  • Plumbing
  • Toilets
  • Small appliances (coffee maker, clothing iron, etc)
The reality is hard water costs you money. Appliances and fixtures break faster, lose efficiency, and increase energy costs as a result.

While we could ramble on about the problems with hard water, here’s a few highlights on the problems with hard water and how our systems eliminate them:
  • Water heaters break faster, lose energy efficiency, and can accumulate up to 30 pounds of rock-like scale deposits made up of calcium carbonate over time - soft water prevents this buildup!
  • Showerheads get clogged and can lose 75% of the flow-rate in less than 18 months.
  • Dishwashers are less efficient - soft water provides detergent savings up to 70% and is up to 12 times more effective at soil removal
  • Clothing washing machines require more detergent and are less efficient (stain removal is greatly increased with soft water!)
*Source: wqa.org / wqa.org

How Do Our Systems Treat The Water?

Water Softener

Our system treats the water as it comes into your home to provide clean soft water in every faucet and fixture in your home. The softener removes large contaminants that need to be removed at the whole-home level such as:
  • Hard Minerals - Calcium & Magnesium Carbonates
  • Chlorine / Chloramines
  • Iron
tucson water treatment water softeners and whole whole water treatment systems
reverse osmosis drinking water system by tucson water treatment

Reverse Osmosis

Also called an “RO” for short, the Reverse Osmosis removes the rest of the contaminants that we don’t want to consume. We install an extra dedicated faucet at your kitchen sink that provides you with clean water for drinking, ice, and cooking. Additionally, it can optionally be connected to your refrigerator to provide cold water and clean ice from the dispenser. This system specifically removes contaminants that are found in municipal and well water such as viruses, bacteria, metals, arsenic, pesticides / herbicides, and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs).

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