The pressure washer is among the most effective tools for cleaning most spaces and surfaces. To work at the top, however, you need some precautions: among these is the right water hardness.
There is, in fact, a wide range of accessories for pressure washers, each of which is suitable for different uses and applications. A vast and detailed range of specific accessories for home and professional pressure washers, indispensable for a guaranteed result in every single use.
The right choice will allow you to increase the power and efficiency of the jet of your pressure washer, but also to respect the most delicate surfaces and materials. In addition, with the addition of certain accessories, your pressure washer will become a tool capable of performing more complex operations than just washing.
Let's see, then, what the main accessories are, when and how to use them.
As a liquid, water cannot be materially hard. The hardness of water, therefore, is an idea related to the minerals contained therein, which can produce residues harmful to the materials where they are deposited.
Water hardness, therefore, means the total content of calcium and magnesium ions, as well as any other heavy metals, present in the water itself. These substances are present because, as it flows from the source, to the rivers, to the aqueducts, the water comes into contact with mineral substances which, when they reach high concentrations, produce the formation of limescale and the incrustations so dangerous for household appliances (such as irons, coffee machines, washing machines, washer-dryers, dishwashers) and professional machinery such as pressure washers. The solution is to use a limescale remover: this is a chemical product which, however, does not solve the problem definitively and increases the emission of pollutants into the environment.
It is even worse when, instead of limestone, heavy metals dangerous for the environment and for human health are present in the water, in excessive concentrations, causing even serious intoxications. We are talking about mercury, cadmium, chromium and lead: these elements contaminating human beings through water, air and food, may cause neurological, genetic, tumoral and fatal pathologies. Unlike limestone, unfortunately, there is no solution capable of reducing these substances when, unfortunately, they manage to contaminate water.
Depending on the mineral content, a distinction is made between hard water and soft water, with different levels of quality. Hardness is usually expressed in French degrees and is indicated by a capital F (not to be confused with degrees Fahrenheit, which is a measure of temperature). One degree F represents 10 milligrams of calcium carbonate present in one liter of water.
Let's see, therefore, what water hardness means for pressure washers and not only.
Hard water is mainly responsible for limescale. Since it is mainly composed of calcium and magnesium, limescale deposits persistently in pipes and on surfaces, including those in pressure washer systems and those that are washed with pressure washers.
Hard water has a negative effect on the washing process, even more so if a detergent is used together with water. The molecules making up the detergent, in fact, combine with the calcium ions present in the water, forming non-soluble compounds which, in addition to increasing the amount of detergent required, are harmful to the boiler coil due to their corrosive and encrusting action.
In order to fix the problem from its very beginning, and not to get stuck with the pressure washer or other machines, the most efficient and immediate solution is the use of a salt water softener. This is an instrument that reduces the hardness of water by significantly lowering its calcium and magnesium content.
Let's see, then, how the salt water softener works.
Intercepted at the source, the water is made to pass through a container filled with saline solutions capable, through their molecular charge, to deprive the water of the limestone present inside. A result that can be obtained, however, provided that the softener is frequently refilled with salt.
If you use a pressure washer with very hard water without "blocking" the limescale at its source, you may find limescale residues - in the form of small stains or large white marks - on the washed surfaces. Nothing serious if immediately removed; otherwise they could become dangerous incrustations for oxidizable materials.
In the case of hot water pressure washers, you also have to think about safeguarding another fundamental component of the machine: the heating element. Hot water pressure washers, in fact, are equipped with a coil that heats the water pumped by the pistons to make it come out of the nozzles at a temperature that can dissolve difficult dirt, such as grease and oil. In these cases it is advisable to have an anti-scale device that reduces the risk of scale formation on the heating element.
Now that you know all the risks linked to water hardness, it is good practice to check the quality of the water that comes from your tap and, in the case of water that is not very soft, follow these little tricks to get the best results from your pressure washer and to extend its life.