Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas Hard Water – Is there a difference?
MAY 28, 2020 BY SOFT WATER BY MELISSA
Many new residents to Clark County are often surprised by how harsh, messy and unpleasant tasting our water is, and have a lot of questions as to why, where it comes from, and how it got this way, so let’s cover basic information to help answer those questions.
Essentially, all water for residents of the greater Las Vegas area are getting water from a single source: Lake Mead.
This water is treated by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, providing water to each section of the Las Vegas Valley. We are broken down into three cities: Las Vegas, Henderson, and North Las Vegas. It might seem like they would have different water qualities, but in truth, there is very little difference since it all stems from one source.That doesn’t mean that there aren’t slight variances, but mostly it is just a matter of hardness. I test water across the Valley each and every week in my clients’ homes, and it is true that Henderson can often register slightly lower on the grains per gallon test than other areas around town. It’s also true that Summerlin routinely tests the highest, along with NW Las Vegas (Skye Canyon, Providence, etc.). But these variances are truly slight, as in only 2-3 grains lower or higher.
What are grains, you may ask?
Well, that is the EPA’s accepted means of measuring hard mineral content in the water. A basic chemical test allows techs to determine the grain count. The standard by the EPA ranges from 0, which is soft, to 10.5, which is very hard. Anything over 10.5 is considered extremely hard. The average range in Las Vegas for the last year has been from 20-25, with occasional slight dips to 18 or 19 in Henderson, all the way up to 25 in Summerlin. So Lake Mead water is extremely hard!! It’s so hard in fact, that standard equipment from name-brand manufacturers generally won’t hold up to this hardness level because they are nearly all designed for an average of 7 grains, which explains why the majority offer a 5 year warranty, and no more than 10 years for others.What does this mean for Clark County residents? It means that you should be looking for a system that is designed to handle extremely hard water, with the right valves, the best resin grain count so as to not restrict water flow, and the most resin in the tanks so there is maximum contact time for the resin and carbon (such as what Soft Water by Melissa offers with our SSR) to remove the contaminants. Our systems are designed to handle as much as 25 grains of hardness – which is great news for our Summerlin residents – and certainly can handle the rest of our market’s water. This is important because as our water level in Lake Mead drops every year, the water is getting harder and harder. Best of all? Our systems come with genuine manufacturer’s lifetime warranties.
All systems by Soft Water by Melissa are designed by the experts at H2OToGo, and are manufactured by Nugen in Utah, so they are made in the USA.
They contain the right resin/media to remove exactly what the labs show is in our water: not only the hard minerals, but the vast array of other contaminants that routinely rate our water so poorly by EWG and others. They base these poor ratings on the number, quantity and prevalence of contaminants that are unsafe and harmful to human health, such as arsenic, perchlorate, uranium, herbicides and pesticides, and more. Many ask how it can be called “legal” when it’s actually unhealthy and unsafe for many consumers … but I will address that in another blog.For more information, please feel free to fill out my Soft Water by Melissa contact form and I’ll be happy to respond. Or you can call me at 702-213-2121 to reach me directly. I’m in Henderson, Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Southern Highlands, Mountain’s Edge, Lake Las Vegas, Cadence, Aliante … everywhere across town each week, and can schedule a time to stop by and help you out in the convenience of your own home so we can get your exact hardness reading and then I can make some system recommendations and a free bid for your home and family’s needs.