“I’ve got fur in my kettle” he said.
“Does your tea tickle your palette?” I politely
enquired.
“No, why do you ask?” he said.
“Forget it.” I said. “Rats a problem? Do
you need pest control or is that huge hairy hound of yours
drinking out of it?” (He does have rather a large dog
with a lot of hair).
“No, no” he said “I mean fur in my kettle
not fur in my kettle”
“Ah,” I twigged “you mean you have fur in
your kettle, why didn’t you say so. For a moment I thought
you were boiling cats or some such strange Kerobokan ritual”.
They are odd people in that part of the world you know. I
put it down to the “funny” smoke that blows across
from the prison. They always say that when the wind blows
from the east they have great parties in Kerobokan.
But no, Cedric’s problem came from underground, nothing
to do with the prison, it came from his bore. He had a problem
with hardness (I beg your pardon). You see his water supply
had a lot of calcium in it. Cedric’s bore had become
a real bore.
Boring bores are a common problem in Bali particularly on
the Bukit where there is a lot of limestone. If, on its way
to your tap, your water passes through rock with a high calcium
or magnesium content such as limestone, coral stone or chalk
(and incidentally cement/concrete) it will pick up calcium
or magnesium which dissolves in the water. The water becomes
“hard”. It might be good for your bones but not
for your peace of mind.
Only well boned people live on the Bukit you know.
When hard water gets a bit of rough treatment such as being
heated or running through something or dripping onto something
it can get a bit fed up to say the least. It throws a wobbler
and dumps the calcium. Calcium deposits can build up quite
quickly, visit a show cave and you will soon see what deposited
calcium can do.
Around your house calcium or magnesium can get deposited in
pumps, water heaters, kettles, in toilets or around taps.
If you have hard water you may find you can see it deposited
on glasses if they are left to dry after being washed.
Calcium/magnesium deposits are generally known as “scale”
by reptile lovers (although cat lovers tend to call it fur).
The removal of scale, known as “descaling”, has
always been a major maintenance issue in steam engines, boilers
for heating systems and power stations.
In household situations scale has a number of detrimental
effects, most are merely inconvenience but some can cause
expense.
Hard water stops the soap from lathering properly making a
shower a rather disappointing experience.
Scale in your kettle coats the heating element and makes it
inefficient. If the scale builds up too much your kettle will
eventually fail requiring a new element or even a new kettle.
Scale in your toilet can look very unsightly and may block
up the valves in the cistern.
In a water pump it can choke up the impellor.
Scale can also leave a mat surface on the tiles in your bathroom.
If under the shower the tiles are not shiny it is usually
a thin film of calcium deposit although it could be fat from
soap or a roughened surface caused by cleaning with a scouring
agent.
Probably the worst effect of scale deposit is in water heaters
where it is deposited on the inner surface of internal water
pipes. The internal diameter of the pipes is reduced which
considerably reduces the heating efficiency of the heater
but worse reduces the flow of water through the heater. This
reduced flow is a nuisance and can reduce your shower to a
mere dribble but, in instant demand type of gas and electric
heaters scale can also stop the heater’s control system
working properly. Eventually you have to replace the heater.
So how do you remove calcium deposits? Calcium is very hard
and trying to chip it off can be a bit of a disaster especially
from fragile items such as heating elements. The usual method
is to use hydrochloric acid which, quite worryingly, is freely
available in most hardware shops. BE CAREFUL IT IS VERY NASTY
STUFF. If you must use it use rubber gloves, protect your
eyes, do not breathe in the fumes and be very careful where
you dispose of it.
It is far better to avoid using it.
Cedric had a particularly serious problem. There was a particularly
beautiful formation around his water pump he called “the
Crown Jewels.” He was thinking of opening his house
as a show cave. Every four days he had to clean his kettle
with Hydrochloric acid (HCL).
So how do we deal with hard water? Filtering will not remove
the calcium or magnesium ions. Distilling the water is an
expensive exercise.
The cheapest and easiest solution is to get yourself a water
softener.
A water softener is basically a tank full of plastic beads
which is installed in the water supply to your house. The
plastic or “resin” beads are precharged with sodium
ions. As the water flows over the beads the calcium and magnesium
ions are exchanged for sodium ions which leave the calcium
and magnesium deposited on the surface of the beads.
Every now and then (depending on how hard your water is) you
regenerate the beads by “backwashing” using a
strong salt water solution. The salt water solution (Sodium
Chloride) displaces the calcium and magnesium that has built
up on the beads replacing it with sodium ready to start again.
The salt water flushes away the released calcium and magnesium
deposits to a drain.
This is an environmentally safe process with only natural
salt, calcium and magnesium being deposited in the drains.
Your standard water pressure is usually sufficient to drive
the water through the water softening unit.
There are many water softeners available from small “under
the sink” mounted units designed just to soften the
water for your kitchen sink to large household units that
soften all your household supply to toilets, showers, water
heaters and taps.
The process is quite simple and, while many fancy looking
units are available for upwards of RP 15 million, rugged practical
models with automatic backwash can be found for around Rp
6 million. It may sound a lot but for people like Cedric struggling
with a serious problem it is little price to pay. If Cedric
decides to move house he can take the water softener with
him.
Cedric is happier now. His hardness problem has been solved.
He has nice foaming showers with lots of hot water. He can
sit on his balcony and breathe in the night air and, as the
psychedelic images flutter across his mind, he can drink his
tea secure in the knowledge that he won’t burn his mouth
and it certainly won’t tickle his palate.
Phil Wilson
Phil Wilson is a project director for Focus Indonesia and
a partner of MrFixit property maintenance services. Opinions
expressed are those of Phil Wilson. If you have any questions
or comments he can be contacted at the office on 0361 288
789 or through the website at www.mrfixitbali.com
