Water Softener in Ashburn, VA

Is the water in Ashburn hard enough to need a softener?

Loudoun Water treats Potomac River water at its Trap Rock facility and buys water treated at Fairfax Water's Corbalis plant, with the Beaverdam and Goose Creek reservoirs as backup sources. Its annual report is the place to read the hardness for the Central System. Potomac water in this region generally lands in the moderately hard range, but the honest answer for your home is a tap test, which takes a minute with a strip from any hardware store. If the reading is a few grains per gallon or more and you're seeing scale on fixtures, a softener is worth discussing.

Does Ashburn's newer housing change the install?

It usually makes it easier. Ashburn grew fast from the 1980s, and only a small share of homes here predate 1980; the largest building decade was the 2000s. Many houses were built with the water main entering a basement or garage near the water heater, and some builders left a softener loop in place. Plastic and copper supply lines are typical. The main things a plumber checks are drain access for the regeneration line, an outlet for the control valve, and enough clearance for the brine tank and salt bags.

Will the chloramine affect a softener?

Loudoun Water uses chloramine at both of its treatment sources. Over years, chloramine can break down standard softener resin, so ask about crosslinked resin or a carbon stage in front of the softener. A carbon stage also reduces disinfectant taste, which the softener itself doesn't touch. If anyone in the home has a low-sodium diet, potassium chloride can replace salt in the brine tank.

One local note

Loudoun Water runs a cross-connection program, and irrigation systems and pools with backflow preventers need yearly testing by a certified tester. If you're having the main rerouted for a softener, it's a sensible time to make sure irrigation lines branch off before the softener and the backflow assembly is accessible. Softening the line to the house but not the yard also stretches each bag of salt further. Trade permits in Ashburn go through Loudoun County Building and Development as sub-records of a parent building permit; your plumber can tell you whether the job needs one.