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Where A Water Heater Repair Fits Into Your Home’s Water Quality Plan | Myrtle Beach, SC
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Is there a strange smell coming from the showerhead when you bathe? Does your hot water coming from the kitchen faucet look discolored? Are you whites coming out less than pure white from your laundry? You may need a water heater repair visit to check for problems that typically occur over time in hot water heaters that aren’t maintained regularly. This is especially true when your home’s water supply from city water or a well has higher levels of minerals, known as hard water, that interacts with the metal in pipes and appliances including your hot water heater, and also leaves mineral deposits throughout your plumbing. If you keep having to clean the residue out of your coffee maker, that is a typical sign that your water is leaving behind mineral residue. At Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Myrtle Beach, SC, our team can get to the source of your water quality problems, and even provide improvements that will lead you to realize that all along, your water quality could have been so much better, your refreshing ice water and soapy showers so much more enjoyable. We can get used to plenty in life, but sometimes we don’t have to. How about a home water quality plan?
Reducing Plumbing and Appliance Issues with Better Water Quality
The root of many of your home’s plumbing issues, including ones that require water heater repair, is the minerals in your water. Some homes are fortunate to not have a high level of “hard” water, but in many areas, it’s a fact of life, especially with well water but also with public water supplies. Public water agencies can switch their sources from time to time, so even if you have decent water today, that could change in the future as they shift from groundwater to the reservoir or river sources. The solution for many homes is water filtration, keeping minerals in the water from affecting the home’s plumbing.
Benefits of Improved Water Quality
Having safe drinking water that’s under your control helps your family stay hydrated and enjoy beverages and cooking without having to resort to plastic bottles full of water. Water quality also affects the effectiveness of soaps and shampoos, hard water can irritate the skin, and everything from pipes to appliances corrodes faster when mineral levels are high. Scale, the solid form of minerals that often accumulates in appliances including your coffee maker, is another drawback of hard water. A water filter also reduces or eliminates other contaminants present in the water. One place where your water quality problems double are in your water heater, where separate water quality issues can develop if regular maintenance is not performed.
Hot Water Quality Issues That Originate at Your Water Heater
In your hot water heater, a part called the anode rod helps compensate for water quality issues by sacrificing its metal over time. When the anode rod depletes, which can take several years or less depending on the hardness of the water, the corrosion of the tank will accelerate. Anode rod function can also affect the growth of anaerobic bacteria which produces a foul smell that is noticeable when hot water exits into your sink or shower. Corrosion in the tank can also travel through your system, and get into your washing machine and other appliances.
Avoiding Stains from Discolored Water
Corrosion from pipes and your water heater can cause discoloration of clothes washed in water containing rust particles. If you notice that discoloration only occurs when clothes are washed in hot or warm water, it may be time for our water heater repair specialist to investigate. Our plumbers can also check for rust from cast iron pipes and other sources throughout your home’s plumbing.
Odors from Your Tap Water
Rotten egg smell from bacteria that develop in water in contained spaces such as your water heater, plumbing, or well, can be dealt with in a number of ways depending on the source. If the smell is only coming with your hot water, our water heater repair expert can provide solutions that help to reduce or eliminate the smell while still preserving corrosion protection for your tank. If the smell is also present in your cold water, we can trace the source and provide solutions for the cold water and also water heater repair if needed to complete the resolution.
Limescale in Your Water Heater and Plumbing
Whenever the minerals in your water solidify, they can create a scale that, in the water heater, sometimes covers the bottom of the tank and reduces the effectiveness of the heater. Sometimes you can hear bubbling sounds from the heater when this occurs. The scale can be flushed out and any other measures are taken to restore the proper, efficient operation of your water heater.
Making a Water Quality Plan for Your Home
Once you’ve resolved any sources of water quality issues in your home, from your water supply to pipes and water heater issues, you won’t want to go back to poor quality water. You’ll feel better, you’ll enjoy drinking tap water, and your showers will leave you feeling clean and refreshed, something that may not have been true for some time. Our team can perform a plumbing inspection and water tests, and help you choose your water quality solutions.
Your Water Quality and Water Heater Repair Team in Myrtle Beach, SC
At Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Myrtle Beach our water heater repair team wants you to have the best water coming out of your hot water heater, so we focus on your home’s overall water quality that affects your water heater performance. We can help with water heater repair from issues like anode rod degradation, bacteria growth in your water, and scale buildup that reduces your water heater’s efficiency. Call us for water heater repair and maintenance, and also to help improve your home’s water quality which will provide better drinking water and protect your home’s pipes and appliances.