Hard water in Irvine?

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earthbm_IHB

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I just moved from Villa Siena (Jamboree&Michelson;) to Quail Hill. The water was fine in Villa Siena, but it is pretty hard in Quail Hill (demonstrated by soap not washing off, no matter how hard you rub your hands). The landlord has an enviromentally-irresponsible salt water softener installed, but it doesn't seem to help.



Is that due to location differences? Is all water in Irvine the same mix of Colorado+Nor Cal+local ground wells?



Or is it due to to me now being in SF home, rather than an IAC complex?



Any way to counter that, different soap maybe?
 
you mean your hands still feel oily no matter what?



i always thought the feeling b/w hard and soft water was opposite. with soft water it feels like soap can't get washed off enough, which is what you're experiencing with your landlords water softener.



from googlin':

"When you shower in soft water that temporary ?oily? feeling is caused by your natural body oils. This is how your body feels when it is truly clean. The ?squeaky clean? feeling we get from showering in hard water is caused by a layer of calcium and magnesium that remains on your skin, even after rinsing. In reality, we are ?squeaky dirty.? Hard water minerals clog your pores and coat every hair on your body."
 
When it doesn't rinse off that is definitely a sign of softer water. So maybe that salt water tank is working too well.
 
The good news is...with most water softening systems, adjustments can be made to fine tune the levels of softness.
 
Bashing a brine based water softener as environmentally unfriendly is a bit harsh. Why don't you just say being human is environmentally unfriendly.



Back to topic....



Water softener's use ion exchange resin to replace Calcium (which makes the water hard) with sodium or potassium. Sodium or Potassium salts. If you want to be more "environmentally friendly" whatever you think you mean by that, you could buy potassium salt (a little more expensive) than the cheaper sodium chloride.



The ion-exchange resin only has about a 15 year life span. Could be your resin's bad. The cheap single tank GE softeners sold at CostCo or Home Depot really don't last long anyway. I recently replaced my old Culligan unit which had lasted nearly 20 years with a Fleck 7000 I got online, you wouldn't find it in retail stores.



If your that concerned about your water; instead of bitching on a blog, why don't you go to Home Depot or Culligan and buy a water test kit for $10, then you will really know what's in your water.



When you transition from Renter to Homeowner, you have to learn about all these little things....
 
Nice! Lived all these years thinking it was hard water (because experienced it in places known for having hard water!) Cool, will try fiddling with it tonight! This resource rocks!



Re: enviromentally unfriendly, Irvine water district says it messes up their water treatment plants that can't deal with brine based water softeners, so reclaimed water comes out unsuitable for irrigation, and needs to be dumped. There seems to be some conflict between them and the Dilbert-looking-proud-homeowner guy, so I'll just refer anyone who cares to <a href="http://www.irwd.com/WaterQuality/WaterSoftenerInfo.pdf">http://www.irwd.com/WaterQuality/WaterSoftenerInfo.pdf</a>
 
<strong></strong>Didn't read your pdf that closely.



"Does Irvine Ranch Water District ban water softeners?

Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) bans water softeners in commercial and industrial settings only"



Apparently the ban <strong>does not</strong> apply to residential customers.



In my mind TIC is over-reacting. Not that much salt is added to residential water to corrupt the reclaimed water supply and if they are that concerned they could just require the use of potassium salt. You can irrigate plants with softened water as long as you use potassium instead of sodium.



TIC must really be worried that their freeway medians might turn brown from recycled, softened water. Can't be too worried about the orange groves, those were cut down years ago to make room for your condo.
 
[quote author="alan" date=1210043356]Bashing a brine based water softener environmentally unfriendly is a bit harsh. Why don't you just say being human is environmentally unfriendly.</blockquote>


I wrote a satirical paper on how being alive negatively impacts the environment. I wish I could find it.



Breathing contributes to global warming...
 
It's the shower head and water pressure. I lived at Villa Siena too and then moved to Quail Hill. The shower at Villa Siena was a power wash compared to Quail Hill.
 
Not sure about pressure. I have adequate pressure, consitering that it is quail HILL.



Here's from another source of universial wisdom, Wikipedia:



"Effects on Skin

Some confusion may arise after a first experience with soft water. Hard water does not lather well with soap and leaves a "less than clean" feeling. Soft water lathers better than hard water but leaves a "slippery feeling" on the skin after use with soap. For example, a certain water softener manufacturer contests that the "slippery feeling" after showering in soft water is due to "cleaner skin" and the absence of "friction-causing" soap scum.



However, the chemical explanation is that softened water, due to its sodium content, has a much reduced ability to combine with the soap film on your body and therefore, it is much more difficult to rinse off.[12] Solutions are to use less soap or a synthetic liquid body wash."



This is also what the softener unit manufacturer (or distributor, I can't tell) told me last night, to use less soap and to get used to the slippery feeling. The unit can't be regulated for the degree of softening.
 
[quote author="earthbm" date=1210032629]I just moved from Villa Siena (Jamboree&Michelson;) to Quail Hill. The water was fine in Villa Siena, but it is pretty hard in Quail Hill (demonstrated by soap not washing off, no matter how hard you rub your hands). The landlord has an enviromentally-irresponsible salt water softener installed, but it doesn't seem to help.



Is that due to location differences? Is all water in Irvine the same mix of Colorado+Nor Cal+local ground wells?



Or is it due to to me now being in SF home, rather than an IAC complex?



Any way to counter that, different soap maybe?</blockquote>




Just an FYI. IRWD uses groundwater and imported water, depends on the time of the year, and how much of a drought we are in. As for different areas, put it this way, there are many wells that pump from different areas of OC. So, I'm sure what water is over here, is somewhat different than over there. And considering your move, definitely two different wells.



Obviously everyone cleared it up that you are experiencing softer water, not harder water.



Lastly, if you feel the softer is environmentally-irresponsible. Remove it.
 
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