FAQs

Even minimal iron levels, under 0.5 part per million, can cause staining in your home. Consistent long term iron removal is easy to achieve with the proper equipment sizing and application. It is critical to have a complete water profile as the presence of other contaminants and their levels can either help or hurt the iron removal process. In addition, if iron persists in your water supply, it can lead to iron bacteria which is harder to remove & control.

It is indeed iron that is causing your wife’s hair to turn orange. Have you ever gotten that ‘squeaky clean’ feeling after you take a shower? Well I would hate to burst your bubble, but squeaky is not clean in terms of skin & hair care. That feeling you get after the soap is rinsed off is hardness and iron deposits in the pores of your skin and hair follicles. Typically, blondes will see it the worst because their light hair color cannot mask the buildup. Iron as low as 0.3 ppm is enough to leave orange stains and typical well water in Indian River County is between 2-10 ppm of iron. If you have no water treatment, your wife is bound to continuously get orange hair.

Your best option is to have your water tested and analyzed by one of our certified professionals, to measure the levels of contaminants found in your well water. He/she can then determine a system that will fit your family’s needs to provide consistently clear, soft and iron free water. Your wife will love it, not only will she not get orange hair anymore, but her hair will be more manageable and she can use fewer products. Her trips to the beauty salon will be minimized as the soft water will prevent fading of hair color and buildup.That ‘squeaky clean’ feeling will be replaced by a luxuriously soft feeling when rinsing off, as the natural oils on your skin will no longer be stripped away or blanketed with hardness and iron deposits.

Calcium and magnesium are the primary hard water minerals. Hard water reduces the ability of soaps to clean and produce suds, leaving a dingy gray residue on clothes, and spots on dishes.

Hard water is more abrasive than soft water. The tiny mineral particles combine with soap curd or detergents to become like little pieces of rock pounding away at clothing fibers and fragile glassware. Over a period of time, the structural integrity of the product is weakened. This means glasses become etched and the life of clothing is reduced.

Skin and hair are affected by hard water. A greater amount of shampoo and soap is needed to lather and clean, and hard water doesn’t rinse as well as soft water. That means soap residues remain, leaving skin susceptible to blemishes and hair less shiny.

Hard water is also tough on plumbing. It can cause scale to build on water heaters and pipes, limiting the water flow, reducing the life of the appliances,  increasing operating costs and maintenance.

Studies have shown that soft water saves time and money in the home.

Not necessarily. In many cases water treatment can actually save money. For example, conditioning water to eliminate hardness can reduce the cost of soap, lower the cost of heating hot water, increase the useful life of water-using appliances, and increase the life of clothes and linens (See FAQ “Why is hard water a problem?”). It might also eliminate the need to purchase bottled drinking water or the need to take clothes to the laundromat to avoid the staining caused by iron in your water.

The investment in water treatment equipment will, of course, depend on what is in your water. There are many payment/financing options available, including financing tailored to fit almost any budget. In addition, there are low-cost alternatives available such as rental equipment. In today’s environment water treatment is not a luxury, it is a necessity that ensures the quality of life to which everyone aspires.

The product lines we carry, EcoWater and Hellenbrand, are 95-100% made in the USA. Many other brands are manufactured overseas and Culligan’s water softeners are manufactured solely in China.

Rebedding the carbon tank is synonymous for replacing the carbon inside of it. A carbon tank is used to eliminate odor from either iron or a low amount of sulfur, 2.0 ppm or less (in Lakewood Park, you could have either one). Carbon is like a sponge and when it absorbs everything it can, it should be replaced. All-Rite Water recommends replacing carbon annually. This prevents the problems that crop up when the carbon is overdue to be rebedded- such as grayish water, black specks in the water, or experiencing an odor in the water. Having the maintenance done to your equipment is an investment in your water quality.

All water softeners are not the same. There are two types, metered and solid-state. Both types of softeners use a regeneration cycle to produce clear, clean, soft water.

From what you described you have a solid-state unit, there is a mechanical timer on your water softener. That means it’s set to regenerate on a defined schedule, no matter how much or how little water is used. An example of a solid-state water softener would be: your softener is set to regenerate every other day using 10 pounds of salt per regeneration- even if you are away on vacation (not using water) or have 10 extra people staying in the house (using much more water than usual).

We carry a full line of metered systems which are more technologically advanced. They count (meter) the gallons of water used, rely on your past water usage history to predict when the softener will need to regenerate, and tend to require less salt per regeneration to clean the water. Metered water softeners compensate for more or less water usage without having to manually put the unit into cycle yourself. A metered system will sense the increased or decreased water usage and adjust itself accordingly.

The orange staining is caused by the iron in your water. Iron is only visible after it has been oxidized by contact with the air and/or chlorine. We have been seeing more cases of iron in city & county water and the only way to remove it and solve this problem is with a whole home filtration system. In most cases an efficient and economical water softener will remove the iron & hardness which will eliminate the orange staining and soften the water which provides other significant benefits. In severe cases a speciality iron filter is necessary. There is also an upgraded filtration system that will remove the chlorine as well and deliver bottled water quality from every tap.

City of Vero Beach Water Quality Reports

Indian River County & Sebastian Water Quality Reports

The City of Vero Beach states, “The mission of the Water Treatment Division is to continuously produce an adequate supply of potable water that protects and promotes the health and well-being of all individuals in the community and meets State and Federal Standards.” Most municipalities have the same purpose, to provide a consistent source of potable water; potable water being water that is fit for consumption for humans and animals.

Municipal water treatment facilities will typically use various methods to sanitize and treat our natural water supply so that it is “safe” for consumption, bathing and other household uses.

The CDC has an article that explains the various forms of water treatment used by the majority, if not all, water treatment facilities.  The flaw in this system is not the treatment of the water, but the vast distribution system that gets it from the water plant to your kitchen sink; the potential for harm is very real.

CDC Community Water Treatment

Contaminants may be present despite treatment:

• Endocrine disruptors
• Pharmaceuticals
• Disinfection byproducts (DBPs)
• Pesticides
• Herbicides

Post-treatment potential points of contamination:

• Biofilms
• Breaks in distribution lines (boil water alerts)
• Repairs or replacements of distribution lines
• Cross connections with waste
• Power outages and leaks (negative pressure points)
• Corrosion
• Leaching from pipe walls

The CDC also offers some basic education on the different types of point-of-use (POU) and point-of-entry (POE) systems that offer a secondary level of protection. These systems provide proven reductions of:

• Disinfection byproducts formed during treatment and transmission
• Corrosion products from distribution lines and in-home plumbing
• Contaminant intrusions into the system
• Endemic microbiological organisms

CDC Household Water Treatment Systems

Point-of-use and Point-of-entry treatment systems provide a final barrier of protection for your home and your family.