Reverse osmosis installation is a great way to get purified water in your Las Vegas home. Reverse osmosis (RO) systems remove up to 99% of contaminants, minerals, bacteria, and metals. An RO system pairs well with a water softening system to ensure your home has an endless supply of purified and softened water.
At Rain Water Conditioning of Las Vegas, we offer several reverse osmosis systems and water softeners to fit your specific needs.
Discover the Rain Water difference today.
What Is Soft Water?
Soft water has a very low concentration of minerals, such as magnesium, iron, and calcium. There are some sources of water that are naturally soft, like rainwater. However, as water seeps into the soil and passes through rocks, it collects minerals as it flows into underground aquifers.
The water that comes out of your tap is hard water. Water treatment facilities will remove most impurities from the water, but they do not soften it. In order to soften the water and remove the high levels of minerals, the water has to be passed through a water softening system.
The Impacts of Water Hardness
Water hardness has multiple impacts in your Las Vegas home, including:
- Scale deposits: White, chalky deposits will form around sink faucets, on cabinets, and be left as stains on dishes and shower walls.
- Scale buildup: Inside your home’s plumbing system, water heater, washing machine, and dishwasher, scale deposits will continue to build up. Excessive buildup can reduce water flow, clog drain lines, and shorten the lifespan of your appliances.
- Clogged/restricted water flow from fixtures: Scale buildup affects your fixtures and, over time, will reduce water flow, and could cause clogs.
- Increased energy costs: The scale buildup inside your water heater causes it to work harder and run more frequently, resulting in higher energy costs.
- Reduced cleaning efficiency: Hard water requires larger amounts of soap and cleaning solutions to work effectively, as the minerals reduce lathering ability, as well as create soap scum.
- Skin, nail, and hair issues: Some individuals may experience problems with their skin and hair, including dryness, dandruff, itching, and irritation. Hair and nails can also look dull and be brittle.
How Hard Is Las Vegas Water?
The water in Las Vegas is considered to be extremely hard and is the second “hardest” water in the entire country. According to the Las Vegas Valley Water District, the hardness of our water is rated at 291 parts per million or 17 grains per gallon. The reason Vegas has extremely hard water is due to the high levels of dissolved minerals in the water and the source of the water.
Most of our water starts out as rainwater in Colorado, and then it flows down the Rocky Mountains and into the Colorado River before emptying into Lake Mead. During the water’s journey, it picks up a lot of calcium, magnesium, and other dissolved minerals.
How To Tell if Hard Water Is a Problem in Your Home
Some signs that hard water is a problem in your home include:
- Soap scum on shower doors and walls, inside your tub, and in your sinks.
- Scale buildup around faucets and inside your fixtures.
- White stains on your dishes.
- Dry, irritated skin.
- Brittle and dull hair and nails.
- Stiff and faded clothing.
- Reduced water flow/pressure.
- Clogged water lines from excessive scale deposits.
You should also have a hard water test conducted to determine the actual level of hardness in your water.
The hard water test ranges, according to the USGS, are:
- Soft: 0-60 mg/L (milligrams per liter), also parts per million
- Moderately hard: 61 – 120 mg/L
- Hard: 121 – 180 mg/L
- Very hard: greater than 180 mg/L
Get Soft Water at Home
The best way to address the hard water in Las Vegas is to get a whole-home water softener and pair it with one of our RO systems. While our RO systems remove calcium and magnesium from hard water, this process can put a strain on the system as water is passed through the membrane, and also shorten the lifespan of the RO system.
Additionally, RO systems will not fully remove every trace of calcium and magnesium, meaning you will still have hard water, just not extremely hard. So, the best solution is to soften the water first by running it through one of our water softeners, and then purifying the water and removing all impurities.
Request a free quote for an RO system today.
The Benefits of Having Purified, Soft Water
The benefits of having purified, softened water in your Vegas home include:
- Removal of dissolved minerals that damage your home’s plumbing, appliances, and fixtures.
- Softer hair, better skin, and stronger nails.
- Improves the energy efficiency of water-based appliances.
- Improves the cleaning effectiveness of soap and cleaning products.
- Extends the life of your water heater and appliances.
- Reduces your costs on soap and cleaning products.
- Removes 99% of all contaminants from your water.
- Eliminates having to buy bottled water in plastic bottles.
- Reduces and stops scale buildup and staining.
- Improves the taste of your water.
Can You Drink Soft Water?
It is completely safe to drink softened water. However, if you are following a low-sodium diet, you should remove the sodium from the water using a reverse osmosis system.
How Water Softeners Work
Water softeners remove calcium and magnesium from the water coming into your Vegas home through an ion exchange process:
- Inside the tank are negatively charged resin beads.
- Water flows into the tank and passes over resin beads.
- The positively charged calcium and magnesium ions are attracted to the negatively charged resin beads.
- As the calcium and magnesium ions attach to the resin bead, they are replaced inside the water with sodium ions.
- With the calcium and magnesium ions removed and replaced with the sodium ions, the water is now softened.
Every so often, the water softener will need to run a regeneration cycle, where it flushes out the calcium and magnesium, and recharges the resin beads.
An RO system works differently. Water is passed through one or more pre-filters to remove larger impurities. Next, the water is forced through a membrane, which has very tiny pores.
The tiny pores allow water to pass through, while removing any remaining contaminants and purifying the water. All the removed contaminants are then flushed down a discharge line. The discharge water can be collected in a storage tank and used to water your lawn, plants, or garden.
Let Rain Water Conditioning of Las Vegas Help You Get the Soft Water You Deserve
Every home in Las Vegas deserves soft, purified water. Rain Water Conditioning of Las Vegas can help you choose the best system to meet your water softening and purification needs.
We build our own water softeners and RO systems to specifically address Las Vegas’ extremely hard water. Take advantage of our factory-direct pricing and customize a system for your home.
Contact us for free estimates and personalized assistance now.
Sources:
Do You Have Information About Water Hardness in the United States? (2025).
Trethewey, R. (2024). How to Test for Hard Water and Add Softeners.