What’s the Deal with Hard Water?

Hard water is something just about everyone in America has heard of. It’s gained a bad reputation with home and business owners all over!

But what’s the deal with hard water anyway?

What’s so bad about hard water that people have water softeners and various water filters installed to reduce the hardness of their water? In the short article below, we’ll talk about what hard water is and what it can do to your home or business to finally explain just what the deal is.

Water naturally contains various minerals. The minerals that make your water “hard” are an abundance of magnesium, calcium, and a few other minerals. How much of these minerals your water contains determines its hardness level.

This is a natural result of the water cycle and can occur in both well and city water. This is why different areas can have different hardness levels. Hard water is perfectly safe to drink and clean with. However, doing so over time can have some embarrassing, inconvenient, or even costly results.

Your Water has an Odd Taste or Smell

If you notice that your water tastes or smells a little strange, this is often one of the first signs that you have hard water. When your water tastes or smells metallic, like dirt, or just doesn’t taste right, there’s a good chance that you have hard water.

Stains on Your Porcelain

When minerals are heavily present, stains can form in your sinks, toilets, and bathtubs. If you notice reddish-brown stains, it’s likely an abundance of iron in your water. Keep an eye out for these stains because they are a sure sign that you have hard water.

Dry Skin and Hair

Even your bathing experience can suffer when you have hard water. Hard water is hard on your skin and hair, drying you out every time you bathe. If you notice that your hair is becoming more brittle or your skin is dry and itchy more often, then you probably have hard water.

Dry and Dirty Laundry

Hard water can dry out your laundry just as it dries out your skin and hair. Your clothes can lose their color, and the fabric will dry out over time as you wash them. You may also notice that your clothes aren’t getting completely clean. These are signs that you have hard water.

Scale Buildup around Your Faucets

One of the most common and noticeable signs of hard water is the tell-tale white scale that forms around showerheads, sink faucets, and bathtub faucets. As you use your taps and hard water passes through, it can leave behind some of the present minerals, causing this scale buildup. If you notice scaling around your faucets, it’s highly likely that you have hard water.

Clogged Pipes

Faucets aren’t the only thing that scale deposits can affect. As hard water passes through your plumbing system, it can leave a buildup of scale inside your pipes. This scaling can cause your pipes to become clogged up. This can lead to a decrease in your water pressure and eventually back up your lines. If you notice these issues, you might have hard water.

If you see these signs of hard water, you can see how they can be a problem. Spending money on cleaners to get out stains and remove scale from your faucets, wearing out your laundry faster due to the increased wear and tear, dealing with costly plumbing repairs from clogged pipes, and having the annoyance of dry skin and hair are all problems that hard water can cause.

What can you do about these problems?

The ideal solution to fixing your hard water problems is installing a water softener. Water softeners work with a two-tank system in most cases. A traditional water softener has a resin tank and a brine tank. The resin beads are positively-charged, and as the water passes over, they form an ionic bond with the negatively-charged mineral particles. When the resin beads lose their charge, the brine tank will flush the resin beads to recharge them.

As the particles become attached to the resin bed, the softened water passes through to the rest of your house. With your newly softened water, you won’t have to worry about the problems we mentioned above.

So, what’s the deal with hard water? It can cause numerous expensive and uncomfortable problems for you and for your home. These issues can be mitigated by having a water softener installed in your home. If you think you have hard water, consider having a water softener installed before hard water starts costing you money.