As a homeowner, you could be facing hard water deposits problem. Apart from being embarrassing, they are disgusting and unsightly. Plumbing fixtures while new or if well taken care of are beautiful and striking, but deposits of hard water can make them something to hide from your friends and visitors. However, this does not have to be the case, especially if you have a professional plumber nearby. There are many things you need to understand about hard water deposits.
The deposits
If you leave hard water unattended, chances are brown rings or spots or chalky white deposits will begin showing on your plumbing fixtures across the house. These deposits appear at outdoor and indoor spigots, supply lines, faucets and any place you might be using water. While this is something a plumber can deal with easily, it is not an emergency, but you do not have to take long to deal with the problem. Waiting too long can make repairs expensive, especially if there is a fixture to be changed. You can also deal with this embarrassing problem if you know how. The water contains a lot of dissolved minerals in high concentrations, mostly lime, calcium and magnesium that build up in pipes and fixtures wherever there is water. Water does not have to flow for these deposits to be formed.
How to clean these deposits
Apart from letting a plumber help you to clean all the hard water deposits, there are a number of things you can do. Grease is always a wonderful choice to use or any other common abrasive. There are also cleaners available such as steel wool, baking soda and cleaning pads you can use. Simply wet the cleaning pad with the right abrasive and get down to work.
Another solution you can use is either lemon juice or white vinegar and water solution in the ration of 1:1. The solution is then applied to the deposits of hard water and left to remain on the problem areas for a quarter of an hour before scouring using a scrubbing pad or soft bristle brush. After rinsing with clean water, you can repeat the process for better results.
Apart from homemade solutions, buy a commercial product specifically for the removal of hard water deposits or stains. Do not forget to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines so that the cleaner does not destroy the surface areas and faucets. Protective goggles and gloves might also come in handy in such a cleaning process.
Minimizing their occurrence
No matter how animated and dedicated you are in cleaning hard water deposits, these stains will always turn up, but you can lower the risk of recurrence. Do this by cleaning surfaces occasionally and using a squeegee in cases where the deposits of hard water are all over glass shower doors and tile walls. It is also important to think about the advantages of a water softening system for the whole house.
If the spigots and water faucets are not in use, they should be shut off. A dripping faucet can bring these deposits faster that you expect. If your home has a lot of traffic, you might want to sensitize every family member about the dangers of leaving behind a dripping tap.
This article is written by Tracy, who is a homemaker and lives in Arizona. She recently had a leakage problem and had to call First Plumbing a
Mesa, AZ plumbers that offers all kind of plumbing services in and around Arizona.