The common water spot: Illustrating the NaturSoft difference

As a water droplet containing hardness minerals comes to rest on a surface, the familiar process of forming a water spot gets its start.

Untreated water: As the water droplet leaves the faucet and travels towards the sink surface, it has the same specific scale potential as all the other water droplets left behind in the plumbing system.

• However, during the trip and as it comes to rest on the sink surface, the water droplet is no longer under pressure as it was in a closed plumbing system. It is now exposed to the atmosphere. This results in an immediate spike in the scale potential as some of the dissolved CO2 contained in the water has the opportunity to gas off. A state of super saturation and spontaneous nucleation of scale occurs. Nucleation means calcium and carbonate ions form crystalline calcium carbonate attached to the material of the sink surface. These nuclei form a preferential surface where additional minerals then precipitate out on. (It takes a much higher degree of super saturation for scale nucleation to occur than for growth of existing scale.) Most of the initial nucleation occurs at the outer edge of the water droplet at the interface of the water, air and sink surface. This usually results in a white scale ring in the shape of the original outline of the water droplet.
• As the water evaporates, H2O escapes and the minerals stay behind - resulting in the mineral content of water droplet concentrating. With the ever increasing super saturation, more and more scale nucleation and crystal growth on the nuclei occurs as the droplet shrinks. Since the water drop shrinks during evaporation, new scale nucleation on the sink surface occurs time and time again - leaving firmly attached scale deposits behind on the entire surface that used to be occupied by the water droplet - in some cases leaving behind a series of rings of the shrinking water droplets outline.

• As the droplet settles on the sink surface, the CO2 gases off resulting in a state of super saturation. Since it requires a much lower state of super saturation for scale to grow (i.e. to settle on an existing nucleus) than to spontaneously nucleate on the sink surface, most of the precipitating hardness mineral aggregates on the seed crystals causing them to grow in size. As a result, the scale ring characteristic of a water spot left by untreated hard water is far less pronounced or even non-existent in the case of water treated with the NaturSoft media.
• As the water droplet evaporates, the scale potential climbs. Once again, the vast majority of the precipitating hardness aggregates on the growing seed crystals. There is far less or even no spontaneous nucleation on the sink surface as the growth of the seed crystals absorbs the super saturation as it increases. In most cases, at least as long as the growth of the seed crystals absorbs the super saturation at the same rate or faster than the saturation is able to increase due to the evaporation, the super saturation will rarely ever reach the level required for spontaneous nucleation on the sink surface.

What to expect if you have an existing home without a prior softener

Immediately after the installation you will experience all of the benefits listed above. Depending on the amount and type of scale deposits present in the plumbing of your home and the type of plumbing materials used, you may or may not observe the following within one to four weeks following the installation of the new system. These effects are temporary and will steadily diminish a eventually stop once the plumbing has been de-scaled:

1. The “softness” of the water may temporarily diminish noticeably. This would be particularly evident on the hot water side. We have measured increases in the mineral content of the water of more than ten grains per gallon in the treated water after it has traveled through the water heater and the home’s plumbing.
2. Since the existing limestone scale is “softened up” as part of the NaturSoft™ effect, it may detach in small “chunks” ranging in size from very fine silt to pieces larger than a grain of sand. The larger pieces may be big enough to build up in the aerator screens of your fixtures. Considerable silt-like accumulations may be visible on the shower heads
3. Higher flow rates will shear off more of the existing scale than will lower flow rates. Consequently, you may not notice as much at a sink faucet as elsewhere. The bathtubs, however, are the place in the home were ordinarily the highest flow rates are encountered. Here you are likely to observe the most obvious signs of the de-scaling activity: The water may come out somewhat milky. You may even find sand like grit at the bottom of the bathtub. Consequently, if the scale being removed from the plumbing was harboring sediment or iron that is now being released, it would be also most apparent in places like the bathtub.
4. The water line supplying fixtures which experience the most use will be cleaned the quickest and will be the first to return to providing you the full benefits you experienced immediately following installation; rarely used fixtures will take correspondingly longer.

What to expect if you have or had an existing traditional softener

1. The water does not feel as “soft” as with the softener: A traditional water softener turns dissolved mineral hardness (calcium bicarbonate) into dissolved sodium bicarbonate (i.e. baking soda). The absence of the calcium in combination with the presence of sodium bicarbonate leads to the “soft”, “slick”, “slimy” or “can’t get the soap off” sensation. The NaturSoft™ technology maintains the healthy mineral content of the water holistically only causing it to act less “hard”. However, it does not add the bicarbonate. As the result the water feels “softer” than untreated water, but not a soft as chemically softened water. If you miss the “slick” feeling try adding some baking soda to your bath.
2. Water spotting: A water softener replaces calcium with sodium. The “water spotting” a water softener leaves behind is a salt “haze” that wipes of very easily and is far less noticeable than spots caused by minerals. (This softener “haze” is very much the haze you find on your car after parking it near the beach on a windy day.) The NaturSoft™ treatment results in reduced spotting compared to untreated water. However, compared to chemically softened water the remaining spotting consists of minerals not salt, and is more visible as a result. Yet, the cleaning of this type of spotting approaches the ease of cleaning up the salt haze when compared to untreated water. (You can conduct your own test by putting the NaturSoft™ system in “by-pass” for a few days to see the difference)
3. Soap curd: Tallow or oil based soaps like “Ivory” and the like will react with calcium minerals to form a sticky film. Detergent based cleaners like shampoos, shower gels, dish soaps and laundry detergents either do so very slightly or not at all, but all detergent will work better with treated water. Consequently, you will find that the performance detergents will improve dramatically with the NaturSoft™ system in place and you will be able to reduce your detergent use between 40-60% compared to untreated water. This is comparable to chemically softened water. You will, however, notice very little improvement when using regular bar soap or tallow based soap products since the minerals are largely still able to react with the fats in the soap to form the curd.
4. Depending on the water chemistry of your water supply, you are unlikely to, but may still have some scale deposits in your plumbing system. This is especially true if your softener did not always work 100%.

Tips for Automatic Dishwashers

Generally, the media relies on removing mineral hardness from solution and forming micro crystals, not on actually removing the natural minerals from the water. Harsh chemicals, specifically acids / low pH detergents or rinse agents, can destroy these crystals by re-dissolving them and reducing the desired effect. More importantly, we should remind ourselves that dishwashers are supplied by the hot water side of a building’s plumbing system. As noted in section I (If you have an existing home that did not have a water softener or effective scale control system installed prior to installing in a NaturSoft™ System), higher than normal hardness would initially be released from the hot water plumbing potentially affecting the dishwasher. For both of those reasons, the combination and amounts of detergents and rinse agents should be “just right”.

• Cascade Low Phosphate: name brand detergent with relatively gentle ingredients.
• “Lemishine” All natural rinse agent. (Found at Walmart ®, Target ® and other major supermarkets)

Tips for Cleaning Hot-Water Heaters When using a NaturSoft™ System

Cleaning and restoring the plumbing system is a major benefit of the NaturSoft™ product. It is a benefit that no installation of a traditional water softener would provide. At the same time we can agree that the cleaning process represents an impairment to the enjoyment of the improved water quality. In order to minimize the time required to complete the process and return to normal as quickly as possible we strongly recommend:

• Flushing your hot water heater by turning off the heat source, attaching a hose to the drain valve at the bottom of the tank and “power flushing” the heater by opening the drain valve. Once you have assured yourself that the water heater is completely filled with water, turn the heat source back on. Repeat weekly if necessary.
• Alternative, albeit not quite as effective, you may open several fixtures in the home and let water run simultaneously for a couple of minutes. Again, focus on the hot water side and high flow uses like the bathtubs.