FAQs

To understand soft water, we need to know what makes water hard. Hard water is water that has a high mineral content. It’s a natural result of minerals like calcium and magnesium accumulating during the water cycle, and it can happen with well water and even city water. The more calcium and magnesium dissolved in the water, the harder the water becomes. This is why certain cities and counties within the same state can have varying degrees of water hardness.

A water softener system treats your water at the point it enters the home. Having soft water means removing these hardness impurities before the water travels through your pipes and into your water-using appliances, and before you draw water from the taps of your bathrooms and kitchen. Soft water is less than 1 gpg, whereas hard water is anything above 7gpg. Over 85% of households live in hard water areas.

Shore Water Refining's whole home filtration systems offers you a water softener system and reverse osmosis drinking water system, creating the healthiest water for all uses.

An Shore Water Refining water softener system removes the impurities in your water so your skin is rinsed without hard water minerals left behind. There is no residue on your skin to trap traces of soap, dead skin cells and other particles. And no residue left behind that dries your skin. The slippery, softness you feel is exactly how clean skin is supposed to feel.

The same way that soft water eliminates water spots that dry onto your glassware and silverware, it allows your bath soaps to lather better and rinse off completely. Soaps will lather better and you’ll be able to use half as much.

Most municipalities treat water by using chlorine to kill bacteria. Some might even soften the water, but only to meet minimum requirements. That doesn’t mean it is ideal for your family.

An Shore Water Refining Systems water refiner softens your family’s water by removing the hardness minerals and sediments that weren’t removed by the municipality, and it also removes the chlorine taste and odor.

Your authorized Shore Water Refining Pro can evaluate your water and recommend a water softener system or whole home filtration systems customized to treat your home’s water. The benefits include:

• Reduced scale build-up on pipes, faucets and water-using appliances, providing energy savings.
• Reduced iron stains, tastes and odors.
• Cleaner, brighter laundry.
• Lower use of soaps and detergents, saving money.
• Eliminated spots on glassware and silverware.
• Softer skin and hair.

One of the biggest misconceptions about water softeners is that the salt is what softens your water. What actually softens the water are the thousands of resin beads inside your softener that filter out hard water minerals.

Water softeners use a negatively charged ion exchange resin to collect the impurities from your water. The resin becomes charged when it mixes with a sodium or potassium solution. The salt in the water softener isn’t what softens the water; it is what enables the resin to collect and remove the hardness from your water.
The Shore Water Refining refiner softens your water, and also removes the chlorine taste and odor, which is often a result of water treated by cities and municipalities.
Regeneration is the term for when the resin is being cleaned and recharged in the sodium solution.

A study released at WQA Aquatech USA indicates “that the use of efficiently operated water softeners improves septic tank performance, while the use of very inefficiently operated water softeners may have a negative effect on solids discharge to the drain field and the level of impact will depend on the level of hardness in the water, whether the regeneration waste is discharged to the septic tank, and the amount of excess sodium present in regeneration waste.”

The Water Quality research Foundation commissioned Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University to conduct this independent study in 2012 which resulted in an official report, “Changes in Septic Tank Effluent Due to Water Softener Use.” Two different approaches were taken to conduct this study; one in a laboratory setting and the other looked at case studies conducted in the field.

The quality of your home’s water may meet local standards, but it might not meet your own. Reverse osmosis drinking water purification systems are usually used in the kitchen, where you are most apt to get your drinking water, and where you prepare all of your food and beverages. You need the healthiest and best tasting water available.

Also, the methods used to treat municipal water – including chlorine – could be impacting the smell and taste of your mixed beverages and your cooking. A drinking water system provides bottled water quality, without the bottled water price paid at the store and at the recycling center.

While most homeowners may never encounter scary-sounding contaminants like toxaphene and trichloroethylene, there are several common water problems to be on the lookout for in the home:

Hard water
Iron water
Acid water
Turbidity
Taste and Odor
Contaminants

For more information on these problems, visit Diagnose Your Water.

Cavitation is the dynamic formation and collapse of micro bubbles in a fluid. The bubbles collapse through a violent process, creating an acoustic shockwave, visible light, and forcing a shift in the chemical equilibrium of calcium bicarbonate. At the point of total collapse, the temperature of the vapor within the bubble may be several thousand degrees Fahrenheit, and the pressure several hundred atmospheres, releasing enough energy to destroy bacteria.

Shore Water Refining CHC achieves Controlled Hydrodynamic Cavitation by forcing water through a pair of patented horizontally opposed nozzles. This harnesses the energy of the cavitation process and directs it into the water stream as opposed to material surfaces. It is this controlled energy that is the heart of the Shore Water Refining CHC solution for scale, fouling and corrosion control.

• Scale Control – Calcium solubility is inversely proportional to water temperature; meaning calcium precipitates as water temperature increases. The kinetic energy and localized temperature associated with Controlled Hydrodynamic Cavitation drive solid particles of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) from solution to form non-sticking colloidal crystals. These colloids attract dissolved calcium and carbonate ions, which are then filtered from the water stream.
• Bacteria Control – The extreme pressures and temperatures created by our Controlled Hydrodynamic Cavitation process physically destroy bacteria and biologics including Legionella. Microbes and bacteria can develop resistance to traditional chemicals, requiring constant adjustment of treatment methodology. There are no such worries with Shore Water Refining CHC – Bacteria cannot adapt to having their bodies ripped apart. Shore Water Refining CHC is the only non-chemical technology that is compliant with the United Kingdom’s L-8 Legionella standard, which is widely considered to be the most stringent in the world.
• Corrosion Control – Shore Water Refining CHC inhibits corrosion through four mechanisms:
  • Elevating pH to alkaline state, approximately 8.5, through CO2
  • Eliminating the need for corrosive biocides and acids used in traditional treatment.
  • Destroying bacteria that can create Microbiological Influenced Corrosion (MIC).
  • Maintaining a clean system, which eliminates an environment conducive to corrosion.

CHC technology precipitates scale before it reaches heat transfer surfaces. Our filtration system removes this scale from the cooling water. Physically removing scale allows towers to operate at higher cycles for concentration, which saves water.

Filtration also removes dirt and debris that collects in open cooling systems. Clean systems run more efficiently and consume significantly less energy. Sediment deposits can often result in microbiologically-induced corrosion (MIC) as anaerobic bacteria can corrode tower metals causing leaks, loss of water and additional biological fouling.

The remarkable cleanliness of a CHC-treated system is due to our superior filter offering. CHC combines industry-leading centrifugal separation with a stainless-steel mesh screen to filter both heavier and lighter-than-water particles. Our filtration solution also uses self-cleaning filters to eliminate the need to change media, bags or cartridges.

CHC is focused on water conservation. While other solutions sometimes require virgin water for filter backwashing; our systems are engineered to utilize blowdown water only for this purpose.

Our filter systems also include a proprietary intake manifold and sweeper system, which directs dirt and debris away from process intakes and toward filter suction.