As a new homeowner in the Caribbean, or if you’re looking to do upgrades to your home, you’ll’ find yourself browsing online or in the aisles of your favourite home improvement store. Those new, shiny fixtures and appliances with all of their fancy features catch your eye, and you make the decision to invest, despite the cost, to make your space as aesthetically pleasing as possible. They will bring the vision you have for your home’s design to life.
But as you are processing payment, with a big smile on your face, envisioning all of the hot cups of coffee you will be drinking from your new, high-end coffee machine, or the steamy showers you will enjoy after a long day at work, far from your mind is the image of what these new purchases will look like in just a few weeks. The culprit? Limescale.
Let me paint a picture for you....
Living in the Caribbean, we have all seen that white, chalky substance which builds up in your kettle. It even appears as brown, dirty rings in your toilet and sink, or it can appear in pink and greyish hues – think clogged showerheads and dirty, discoloured tiles in the bath. It’s annoying, it’s ugly and it’s difficult to clean, but most important to mention, it’s costly. It can make your beautiful home look old and neglected.
Meet limescale: approximately 13 kilograms of it hardens in your home every year, and that’s if you live alone.
What is limescale and what causes it?
In Barbados, Jamaica & St. Lucia, hard water is a problem. Hard water is water which is rich in minerals and salts, namely calcium and magnesium, which are two big culprits due to their high concentrations.
When hard water evaporates from a surface, it leaves behind calcium and magnesium deposits, which turn into limescale. This calcium from hard water combines with soap, causing an additional film in areas of usage like baths and sinks – what we would call soap scum.
Soft water is hard water that has been softened/treated by removing these high concentrations of calcium and magnesium to avoid this messy limescale problem altogether.
Hard water is what flows directly from your provider through your taps. You’re washing your hair with it, your family is drinking it and you’re using it to clean everything you own, from your clothes to your car… ironic, right?
The Cost to You
Everything comes with a hidden cost. Are you aware of what allowing limescale to buildup in your home is truly costing you?
How do you get rid of limescale forever/ prevent it?
Limescale will form on all surfaces that have been exposed to hard water, and it can build up quickly. The good news is, if you have a limescale problem, you have options. The solutions Newport offers are based on the exact challenges you’re experiencing, as well as your budget, to essentially rid you of this inconvenience for good.
Option 1
Water treatment
To solve a holistic limescale problem, like damaged showerheads and dirty shower glass, only a water softener can fix this. What we will recommend to you offers both a water softening and water filtration solution for your entire house, as our water softeners not only soften hard water, but they purify it as well.
Option 2
On the other hand, if you just want clean, drinking water for cooking and consumption, and you’re sick of buying bottled water, a Kohner Benz Digital kills multiple birds with one stone.
If you’re concerned about the limescale buildup in your kettle, coffee machine, and cloudy ice cubes where you see white flakes floating in beverages after they have melted, this is the solution for you. We just have to install an undercounter unit and a little tap beside your sink, giving you instant, purified water, with additional water configuration options available ranging from boiling water, to sparkling, to cold.
Are you currently building a home?
If you’re in the building stage, this is the perfect time for you to contact us and start thinking about what provisions you need to make to have purified water in your home. Trying to solve a limescale problem after you’ve already moved in can stop the buildup from escalating any further, but it doesn’t correct the issue. Of course, there are so many things competing for your budget right now, but many are for “just-in-case” scenarios: If the power goes off, I might need this generator, or if someone breaks in, these cameras will be extremely useful, you’re thinking. But what about the appliances that are using water every single day, several times a day? From the time you turn on a single tap in your home, your limescale problem has begun. Protect your investments from day one. Let’ss start a conversation.
