Safeguard Your Water Heater Against Hard Water Effects
Did you know that the hard water in your home could prevent you from taking your next hot shower? Yes, water heaters and hard water don’t go along well, especially for the life of water heaters. We help you understand why hard water damage water heater, causing scaling, and how you can protect water heater from hard water
Is my water hard?
Ask yourself:
- Do you often have scaled water marks on the sink and dishes that are difficult to wash away?
- Does the color of your clothes fade way too quickly with each wash?
- Is the water pressure in your pipes decreasing with every passing day?
- Are you using up a lot of soap to wash the dishes, clothes and yourself?
- Do you hear a rattling sound when using your water heater?
If all your answers are yes, it’s highly likely that your water supply has hard water, and this has started damaging the plumbing and appliances. Hard water damage water heater and you need to protect water heater from hard water.
How hard water damages water heater?
Here is how hard water can damage a water heater:
- Mineral Buildup:: This is the most common symptom of hard water damage on a water heater. When hard water heats up, the excess minerals start accumulating to build up scales inside your water heater. This build up starts appearing on the heating elements in the water heater, and makes it less efficient.
- Reduced Efficiency: The scale buildup inside water heaters can act as an insulation, which prevents the water from being heated as desired. This reduced the overall efficiency of the water heater.
- Huge Electricity Bills: Scaling causes water heaters to be less efficient. This means that the water heater has to consume more electricity to heat your hard water. The water heater is a high power consuming device to begin with. Add to this the cost of inefficiency due to scaling, and you are looking at high energy bills due to hard water in the long run.
- Corrosion: The minerals in the water can react with the electrical components to accelerate the corrosion in the water heater tank, which can lead to leakages.
- Reduced Life: In the initial stages, the mineral buildup starts accumulating into the pipes within the water heater. This leads to overall reduced flow of hot water. Over a period of time, these pipes can be completely blocked, and the internal parts can get damaged. These factors reduce the overall life of the water heater.
What can you do to protect water heater against hard water?
Now that we’ve identified the problem and its effects, let’s identify the possible solutions on what to do for hard water. Here are some hard water solutions.
- Periodic Maintenance:: Flush out the sediment, inspect corrosion, and facilitate the early detection of potential issues. This will decrease replacement costs, and add to the lifespan of your water heater.
- Sediment Flushing: This is a simple water heater DIY hack that can prevent buildup in your water heater. Everytime you use the heater, close the supply afterwards, and let the water flow in the hot tap, until the water turns cold. This will flush out the sediments and avoid buildup in the water heater.
- Water Softeners: This solution addresses the problem at its root cause. How to make hard water soft is by using water softeners. A water softener system can remove the minerals and sediments from hard water to prevent sedimentation in the water heater. It can also address all other problems that come with using hard water.
- Anode Rod Replacement: The water heater has an inbuilt mechanism to tackle the corrosive effects of hard water, by using a sacrificial anode rod. The sacrificial anode rod is meant to attract iron, limestone and other minerals present in hard water. Over time, this anode rod becomes corroded and needs to be replaced to prevent damage to the heater.
- Magnesium Anode Rods: Aluminium anode rods are commonly used in water heaters. While replacing the sacrificial anode rods, check for magnesium anode rods for replacement. Magnesium is more effective in resisting corrosion caused by hard water.
- Scale Inhibitors: Scale inhibitors are special chemicals that delay the scale formation caused by hard water. This is essentially a water treatment solution that minimises damage to plumbing and appliances.
- Corrosion resistant water heaters: These are special corrosion resistant water heaters that offer better protection against conventional water heaters. Unlike typical water heaters, these use glass lining. They are the best geysers for hard water that are helpful for hard water regions.
What safeguards can I adopt?
In general, water will always have traces of minerals and impurities. If the amount of hardness of your water is mild, periodic maintenance and sediment flushing are good in the medium term, with occasional replacement of the anode rod. If you have a proven problem of hard water, then its best to consider water treatment options along with the use of corrosion resistant water heaters