For most of us, a home is our biggest, most valuable asset. Taking care of yours can be costly and time consuming. Most of the things we purchase for our homes do not preserve or protect them. Conversely, an Origins by Aerus Point of Entry water system is an investment in your home that will save you time and money. Our systems protects against the damaging effects of hard water in 4 ways. Water has an effect on everything it touches ... and water touches everything. Soft water shields your water using appliances and fixtures from hard water scale build-up, making them more efficient, thus allowing them to last longer.....much longer. A study done by New Mexico State University found that a water heater with hard water consumes 17% more BTU's than soft water.

Signs of Hard Tap Water:

• Hard water scale on plumbing fixtures
• Soap scum on dishes
• Stiff laundry
• Low efficiency appliances

When water gets hot, the water molecules move faster and faster until they evaporate, turning into a gas. The gas escapes out of the water heater, but the minerals remain inside of the water heater. Over time, the mineral buildup accumulates.

Mineral deposits inside of your water heater grow until they impact the components inside your water heater. For example, sediment buildup can cause a temperature sensor to misread the temperature of the water, causing the water heater to heat it to an unsafe level. The mineral deposits can also cause an important component, such as a heating element, to deteriorate and require replacement. Sediment build-up may also cause your water heater to make popping noises and the continuous heating and cooling of the sediment can result in weak spots, eventually responsible for leaks in the tank.

The mineral deposits also get into the home's drinking water, impacting the water quality. While not toxic, many households prefer the taste of soft water. Some people may mistake rust or lead for hard water minerals. Although hard water is not believed to present a health hazard, cadmium and lead may be generated during the corrosion process; exposure to or consumption of large concentrations of these elements can lead to heavy metal poisoning.

Finally, the hard water minerals can accumulate to the point that they create blockage in pipes throughout your plumbing system, impacting water flow to the different fixtures in your home. As the clog develops, it can lead to a serious plumbing problem that requires drain cleaning.

Hard water problems affect all types of water heaters, including traditional tank type water heaters, heat pump water heaters, and also tankless water heaters. Keep in mind that your water heater isn't the only appliance affected by hard water. Your washing machine, dishwasher, and air conditioning unit will likely experience similar issues.

The process of water softening works by connecting all the water that enters your home to the Origins System then is connected back into your home's plumbing.

First: One and a half cubic feet of activated carbon removes chlorine and other disinfection chemicals.

Second: The incoming hard water then passes over the High-Capacity monospheric resin. These resin beads are contained within the resin tanks. Water softener resin beads have a negative charge. Calcium and magnesium, which make water hard, have a positive charge and adhere to the resin beads when they pass over them. The Origins WCF 400 is guaranteed to soften water down to Zero.

When capacity is reached, your system will go through a "regeneration" or "Back-Wash" process. This is essentially a self-cleaning cycle which will recharge the resin beads. During this process, a strong brine solution of chloride dissolved in water and held in the brine tank, will be slowly introduced into the resin tank and will pass over the hardness saturated resin beads. This is a fully automated function. Finally, the water softener system will then go through a fast and settling rinse; the brine tank will re-fill with water and go back into service to start producing softened water again. This process continues over and over inside of the water softener.