Water Softener Benefits Saving Money with Electric Water Heaters

The Water Quality Research Foundation (WQRF) initiated the Battelle Study to test devices fed with softened and hard water under controlled laboratory conditions.
This study was conducted to investigate water hardness levels on the performance of electric water heaters. They also wanted to check out the amount of scale forming in the hot water heater due to hard water and how that might affect the life span of the hot water heater.
The cost implications of these findings are addressed in this report.
The life of the heating element in hard water is expected to be shortened due to scale buildup increasing the operating temperature of the element. The average rate of scale buildup in the electric storage water heaters on hard water was about 907 g/yr (2.00 lb/yr), compared to the average rate of scale buildup on soft water was about 14 g/yr (0.03 lb/yr), which is almost negligible.
So in summary, each 5 gpg of water hardness caused 0.4 pounds of scale accumulation each year in electric storage tank household water heaters. Up to 30 pounds of calcium carbonate rock like scale deposits would accumulate in electric water heaters over their service life before failing when used with hard water. The Battelle Memorial Institute says “The life of the heating element can be expected to shorten due to scale buildup increasing the operating temperature of the element” in the electric storage water heaters operating on hard water.  Once again investing in a water softener will save your family money.