The Water Quality Research Foundation commissioned The Battelle Institute Group to research the effects of soft water versus hard water on major home appliances.  The findings resulted that a water softener can save the home significant amounts of money and energy.  A water softener will keep the home’s appliances working correctly, especially the water heater. The report also found that soft water keeps faucets and showers from clogging with hard water.  The independent study found these key findings:

Gas & Electric Water Heaters
1. Gas water heaters using softened water maintain the original factory efficiency rating over a 15-year lifetime.  A water heater used with hard water can decrease the efficiency of a water heater by 48%.

2. For every five grains per gallon of hard water entering a water heater, a water heater will lose 4% of its efficiency with a 4% operating cost increase for gas water heaters using 50 gallons of hot water per day.  For homeowners using 100 gallons of hot water per day, the efficiency and operating costs double.

3. Homeowners with an electric water heater will have as much as 30 pounds of calcium (a rock-like substance) accumulate in the water heater using hard water.

Shower Heads & Faucets
1. Within 18 months, showerheads on hard water lost 75% of their regular flow rate.  The faucet heads could not maintain 1.25 gallons per minute flow.

2. The strainers on faucets were plugged using hard water after nineteen days of equivalent testing.

Appliances
1. Having completed 240 washes on soft and hard water, the soft water dishwasher looked like new after a quick wipe down.  Dishwashers using hard water showed signs of scale buildup and needed de-liming treatment.