The freshwater sent to homes and commercial and industrial buildings throughout Orange County is overseen by the Orange County Water Department. The OCWD makes every effort to ensure the water that reaches your house is thoroughly treated to remove harmful impurities. In many cases, the water in Orange County is better quality water than what you can get from bottled water—and it’s much better for the environment to leave those water bottles aside and go with water from your taps.
However, there is an exception with our local water, which is its hardness. Water is considered “hard” if it has higher than 10 grains per gallon of hard water minerals. These minerals include magnesium, calcium, and gypsum. In many parts of Orange County, the water has more than 10 grains per gallon unless it comes from a well. The water hardness occurs because of mineral seepage through the groundwater and into the pipes carrying water to your home.
You’re probably familiar with hard starting in vehicle engines. You turn on the ignition in an old car, and the motor grunts, grumbles, and struggles before it starts. This happens more often in colder climates than ours, but everyone knows what a hard-starting engine sounds like.
Southern California summers are wonderful—and sometimes not so wonderful when the serious July, August, and September heat waves hit. Air conditioning systems run often during the middle of the year, and the drain they place on electricity means higher utility bills throughout the season.
The first serious week of warm weather for the middle of the year in Southern California is a good time to watch carefully the performance of your AC. If the air conditioner is starting off with poor performance that doesn’t keep your home cooled down the way it should, you want to have the proper 
Air conditioning systems get to work early in the year in Southern California. Unfortunately, that means they’re also likely to start showing signs of malfunctions earlier as well—extra time for the stress to set in.
In our last post, we wrote about why it’s important to schedule air conditioning maintenance service before the summer weather arrives. There are many potential AC malfunctions a maintenance inspection can catch, and one of these is noticing that the pressure of the refrigerant in the air conditioner has dropped. This usually means a leak a sprung somewhere, allowing refrigerant to escape. If this is the case, your technician can patch up the leak and put in the amount of refrigerant that was lost to restore pressure. You can trust our technicians with these services for your 
At Saddleback, we offer membership in our Member Value Program (MVP). We offer different program levels depending on your needs: a Plumbing Value Program, an HVAC program, and the ALL STAR Value Plan for Comprehensive Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing System Coverage. Of course, we recommend customers take advantage of the extensive ALL STAR Value Plan so they can have three major home maintenance services taken care of annually.
How long can you expect the water heater in your home to last? The average lifespan for storage tank water heaters is around 20 years, although with the best possible care, they can last longer.
We’re finally starting to get some overcast, cooler weather these days. That means that heating season isn’t far off. You may or may not have already scheduled preventive maintenance or repairs to help get your heating system ready for the upcoming heating season. You definitely should, but we’ll get to that in a later post. Right now, though, we want to talk about why you might not be done with your air conditioning system quite yet. If your air conditioner seems like it might be getting towards the end of its life, now is a prime time to replace it with a new one. Read on to find out why it’s better to replace it now, rather than waiting until next spring or summer. 
Orange County is not a part of the U.S. where people have many concerns about “home heating.” Even the coldest winters are mild, and electric furnaces can manage the work of comfort. However, there is one home heating system that’s essential, even in sunny and warm Southern California: the water heater. This appliance accounts for the majority of heating energy any home uses, and it often puts in work 365 days a year.