Hard Times in Farmington

Farmington has hard water. So about a year and a half ago I moved to house three blocks away that doesn't have a water softener. The previous owners generously bought a $400 dishwasher and a cool fridge with the water and ice on the door, but they didn't buy a water softener.
Little did I know, the mineral grain rating in the water here is 15 grains. Over ten grains is considered very hard. So if soft water gets a G rating, mine is a triple X. I've been struggling to keep the toilets and sinks clean because minerals build up in them daily. For me, it's very embarrassing to have someone drop in and have to use a mineral encrusted toilet. I know it's just calcium and iron deposits, but who knows what the guest is thinking when they see the toilet. Apparently, according to the City of Farmington public works department website, hard water can also leave "soap curd" on your skin and hair. All I can think of is bits of cottage cheese, little curds, sticking in my hair. Gross!
This Christmas Joey and I received a nice gift. No, it wasn't an extra toilet brush, although I've gone through plenty of those. It is a water softener. This is the Cadillac of water softeners. It can handle iron deposits that stop regular softeners in their tracks. This softener is computerized and through the menu system, we set it up to run overnight at a pre-programmed time. There is a whole website devoted to this water softener. The picture I've included in this blog post barely does it justice. It takes a majestic stance next to my hard-working, yet drab, water heater.
Unfortunately, the softener discharged water all over the furnace room while running through its "brine" phase tonight, so now it is turned off temporarily. That means tomorrow morning I'll have to face another day covered with soap curd, armed with my toilet brush to ward off rust deposits. My hard water times in Farmington are not over yet.