If you own a property in an area prone to sediment in the water read this article. Every homeowner needs to take precautions to prevent sediment from ruining home water appliances. Read on to learn more.

Sediment can ruin your home water appliances – How to avoid that

Sediment can ruin your water appliances if you don’t follow this guide.

Natural water is never completely clear. You’ll often find dissolved particles and sediment in it, causing pollution. The amount of sediment in water determines its overall quality: the more sediment and dissolved particles, the lower the quality.

If you’ve noticed sand or debris blocking your faucet aerators, or if your water looks dirty or murky, there’s a high chance that you have sediment in your water supply.  Tackling your sediment problem can be stressful, but it’s not something to put away for later. As soon as you notice a sediment problem with your water, take steps to fix it. Sediment can significantly affect your plumbing and water-using appliances, and the sooner you deal with them, the better.

In this article, we’ll go over many ways sediment can damage or decrease the lifespan of your water-using home appliances. We’ll also tell you how to get them out of your water for good.

How Do Sediments Get in Your Home Water?

Sediment isformed when a mixture of solids like sand, silt, clay, and other particles dissolve in water and accumulate. Our tap water comes from rivers, streams, and lakes, which are all loaded with sediment.

A treatment plant usually filters home tap water before it gets to our homes. However, even then, it may not be completely sediment-free.

Despite filtering, a fine layer of minerals and other deposits can accumulate in the main water system over time. A water main break and a leak along the public pipe network are all it takes for sediment to get into your water supply and so into your home water appliances.

Sediment is an even bigger problem if you use a private well. A newly installed well releases many particles into the water supply during the drilling process. These particles settle on the bedrock but are stirred up once the well starts operating, letting the sediment right into your home water. Cracks can also form within the well casing if the well system is damaged or not regularly maintained. And these cracks allow sediment to escape into the water supply. A damaged well screen can also cause dirt to wash into the well during heavy rainfall or flooding.

How sediment affects home water appliances

Sediment can harm and clog plumbing fittings, and negatively affect the quality, taste, and odor of your water. They can also damage your water-using appliances like dishwashers, water heaters, and washing machines.

Most people don’t suspect that their water supply is behind the constant breakdowns their appliances experience. But more often than you’d think, your water supply is to blame. It’s a persistent culprit you cannot ignore.

If your water is contaminated with sediment, expect them to build up in parts of your appliances over time. If the sediment isn’t removed, they can cause many problems. Your home water appliances may develop strange noises, leaks, and have increased energy consumption, all of which can cut their lifespan by half.

Here’s how sediment affects some of your appliances:

Dishwashers

Sediment can clog your dishwasher, making it less efficient and lowering its lifespan. It can also erode the surface of your dishwasher, leaving deposits on dishes and glassware, which turns them dull and murky.

Washing Machines

Sediment accumulates on the washing tub, lint screen, pump mechanism, and other moving parts. This build-up eventually causes the washing machine to fail.

Sediment can also reduce the effectiveness of your washing machine. It’s considerably more difficult for sediment water to lather compared to regular clean water. In other words, sediment prevents your water from being soapy enough to wash your clothes properly. You’ll have to use a lot more soap, and in the end, your washing machine still won’t provide the expected level of cleanliness.

Water Heaters

As the water heats up in your heater, sediment accumulates inside your water heater. it clogs it up. This might cause serious harm to the unit, affecting its capacity to perform properly.

Pipes

Sediment can accumulate in the water lines, clog them and reduce their output flow. When this happens, your taps begin to run slower than they should.

Not only does sediment clog your pipes, but it also contaminates your water, putting your health in danger.

Getting Rid of Sediment

William Herron – https://www.flickr.com/photos/wdherron/8208930629

You can purchase a whole house sediment filter for well water if you want an effective line of defence against sediment and other harmful water contaminants. Whole house sediment filters also target and eliminate pollutants like chlorine and chloramines, as well as heavy metals such as lead and copper.

Many homeowners prefer whole house systems because they eliminate the need to install a water filter at each faucet in your home. With a whole house filtering system in place, water is filtered at the main supply point before it even gets to your taps. This implies that every tap and water-using appliance, including your washing machine, will have fresh and clean water.

If your water contains sediment, you can add a sediment pre-filter to your whole house system for extra protection. A sediment filter traps and removes suspended materials from your water supply. Through mechanical filtration, it filters dirt, rust, silt, and sand, as well as anything else the filter’s capability can absorb.

Removing sediment safeguards the entire house. It also affects the taste and odor of the water. However, sediment filters do not remove chemicals, most heavy metals, bacteria, or dissolved particulate matter from water.

Save money on your home water appliances

A whole house sediment filtering system can help you save money. You can avoid spending thousands of dollars on replacements and repairs of faulty home appliances. If you use a sediment filter, you can rest easy knowing it will safeguard and extend the life of your washer and co. even if you don’t have any other filtration system in use.

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