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Recommended Water Softeners for residents of Barrie

In the city of Barrie, Ontario, water hardness levels range from 8 - 9.5 gpg in the South-end of the city and over 21 gpg in the North-end of Barrie. The residents of the south end of Barrie receive their water supply from the lake and those living in the north end of the city receive their household water from ground water sources. Regardless of where your water supply originates in Barrie, you need a water softener to help prevent the many problems that can occur when using hard water in your home. As long time residents of Barrie ourselves, we have lived in both ends of the city and have seen the huge difference a water softener makes in our water quality. Unfortunately, we have heard many people living in Barrie have been told the city is softening the lake water "for us" before it reaches south end homes, but this is simply not the reality.

Here is an example of the huge difference a water softener can make in a Barrie home;


These glasses are from a South-end Barrie home. The owners  were shopping for a new dishwasher but decided to try putting in a new water softener first. As you can see, the glasses in the middle were washed before their new water softener was installed and the glasses on the ends after the installation. This couple was absolutely thrilled with the results because they don't need to purchase that new dishwasher anymore, saving them about a thousand dollars! 


There are many other issues with hard water besides wear and tear on our appliances.   


Heres the scoop on the problems associated with using hard water in our homes;

Hard water contains large amounts of calcium and magnesium — two minerals that cause the soapy scum on glasses and lime residue on bathroom fixtures. Hard water can cause mineral build-up in water heaters, pipes, dishwashers and shower heads, reducing water flow.  In addition to narrowing and potentially clogging pipes, scale prevents efficient heat transfer, so a water heater with scale will have to use a lot of energy to give you hot water. Soap is less effective in hard water because it reacts to the calcium or magnesium salt of the organic acid of the soap. These salts are insoluble and form grayish soap scum, but no cleansing lather. Soap and shampoo’s ability to lather is reduced, and laundry becomes stiffer and duller in appearance. Soap and shampoo do not rinse off as they should and often leave an invisible film which blocks pores, attracting and holding dirt and bacteria, causing chapped, itchy, dry skin and limp and lifeless hair. Hair colour can be affected as well, especially if you use home hair colouring kits. 


As the table below shows, water hardness is measured with five different classifications and can be expressed in mg/litre or parts per million (ppm) or grains per US gallon (gpg).

                               Water hardness classifications
         
Classification
Water Hardness
Soft
below 17 mg/litre or ppm (0 – 1 gpg)
Slightly hard
17.1 – 60 mg/litre or ppm (1.1 – 3.5 gpg)
Moderately hard
61 – 120 mg/litre or ppm (3.6 – 7 gpg)
Hard
121 – 180 mg/litre or ppm (7.1 – 10.5 gpg)
Very hard
over 180 mg/litre or ppm (over 10.5 gpg)




For  Barrie residents we would recommend a Water Softener with chlorine removal because this will not only beautifully soften your household water, but also remove the chlorine that is added by the city. We would also recommend adding our Reverse Osmosis System to treat your household drinking water assuring the purest, healthiest, best tasting water possible for your family. To save you even more, our company offers a product bundle- Water Softener bundled with our Reverse Osmosis System, for bundle details click here. For more information on these or any of our other products please don't hesitate to contact us.