How Hard Water Affects Your Family
While the minerals in Tonawanda's water are not a direct health hazard, they have noticeable effects on skin and hair. The high mineral content prevents soap from lathering properly, leaving behind a sticky soap scum residue on your skin. This can lead to:
- Dry, itchy skin and aggravated eczema
- Dull, brittle hair that is difficult to manage
- Soap and shampoo that don't rinse clean
For families with infants, using filtered or softened water for preparing baby formula can prevent the baby from consuming an excessive amount of minerals.
Choosing the Right Filtration System for Tonawanda
With water hardness at 13.3 GPG, a simple pitcher filter isn't enough to protect your home. A whole-house solution is necessary to combat scale.
- Best Option (Complete Protection): A traditional salt-based water softener is the most effective solution. It removes the hardness minerals entirely, protecting appliances, making cleaning easier, and improving skin and hair condition.
- Alternative Option (No Salt): A salt-free water conditioner is a viable alternative. It doesn't remove the minerals but crystallizes them, preventing them from forming hard scale inside pipes and on heater elements.
A whole-house softener (around $1,500 installed) pays for itself in approximately 10.4 years through annual savings of $144 on energy, detergent, and delayed appliance replacement. For superior drinking water, adding an under-sink reverse osmosis (RO) system will eliminate the $600-$900 per year many families spend on bottled water.