We sometimes hear from customers that their feel their water is “too soft.” This most often happens right after a new water softener is installed or an old unit is repaired. While soft water does feel very different then hard water, it is impossible for water to be “too soft.” Let me explain.
Hard water is water that contains elevated levels of undesirable minerals, primarily calcium and magnesium. Hardness is measure of how much of these minerals are in your water. Usually measured in grains per gallon (gpg) or milligrams per liter (mg/L), the larger the number, the greater the mineral content dissolved in the water. Any amount of calcium or magnesium in the water is considered hard water. However, because this amount varies you may have a little hardness or a lot, but either way the water is still considered to be hard.
In contrast, soft water is simply water without hardness. If there is no hardness in the water it is considered soft, once the mineral content increases the water is classified as hard. Its that simple. Water is simply soft or it is not, there are no varying degrees of softness. Because soft water is water that has zero hardness, you cannot get too soft. When dealing with real numbers, you cannot get less than zero so with a softener you cannot get softer than soft.
Truly soft water does feel different than water containing any hardness and if you would like to learn more about why softened water feels like it does read this article. A properly functioning water softener will always make your water feel soft, if it stops doing so, something is likely wrong and the unit needs to be repaired. Please contact us for service if your water softener needs to be repaired.