Las Vegas Water is “Very Hard”
In the Las Vegas Valley, the two nontoxic minerals that cause our hard water are calcium and magnesium. They are carried into Lake Mead from the mineral-dense Colorado River.
The hardness of Las Vegas Valley Water District water is 18 grains per gallon, categorized as “very hard.”
Hard water can make it difficult to produce a lather (or suds) while washing. It also can leave a chalky build-up on fixtures and spots on glassware. Household water softener systems reduce the hardness of the water by replacing calcium and magnesium with sodium or potassium, depending on the type of softener
The Benefits of a Water Softener
You and your family deserve the finest quality water available. Quality you can feel each time you shower or feel the soft towel when drying after that shower by having soft water. Each Red Rock Water Conditioner is designed to specifically address the water quality issues that are unique to your home providing your family with outstanding water. Your investment will reward you with quality water at every faucet in your home. Advantages of water softeners include improved “feel” on skin when bathing, longer life of appliances and reduction of water spots and deposits.
The Process of Ion Exchange (Softener)
A water softener works using the process of ion exchange, exchanging the hardness mineral ions, (calcium and magnesium), with the softening ions of the resin. After the system has used all the softening ability it will automatically regenerate, restoring the systems ability to soften. During the regeneration process, a salt solution from the brine tank flushes the hardness ions off the resin recharging the system with sodium, an exchange of ions, before being sent to the drain.
For a business owner or contractor, the last thing you want is an unhappy customer with warranty or product performance issues. That’s why we use Clack components for all of our builds. They are the most respected and in our opinion the best manufacturer of filtration equipment. Clack is one of the few family businesses that can still claim their manufactured products are “Made in the USA”. We also only use top of the line 10% crosslink resin in all of our water softeners. Softeners from big box stores use cheap quality 8% crosslink media. Why is this important? The target level of “free chlorine” (the amount of measured chlorine after it disinfects the water) is around 0.5 ppm nationally. Las Vegas Municipal water averages around 0.9 ppm and has been tested as high as 1.9 ppm. High levels of chlorine are really harsh on softener resin, it degrades quickly and substantially reduces its service life. Cheap quality 8% will only last around 8 years in this type of environment. You can get double that from quality 10% crosslink media. Better yet, add a whole house filter which removes chlorine all together and get even more long lasting service and performance out of your softener.
