Water news for a thirsty world…

 

 

 

Many homeowners shrug their shoulders when it comes to the subject of hard water, but it’s such a common and easily remedied problem that a little knowledge on the subject is sure to make clear to you that soft water is a benefit to both you and many aspects of your home. 

 

We all learned in science class that water is the “Universal Solvent”, which is normally a good thing, but water can’t help but dissolve anything that it touches, and that includes the minerals that are most responsible for hard water, calcium and magnesium. Water is in its purest natural form inside clouds, but when it rains, the rain travels down mountains and over land to reach the reservoir, absorbing minerals all the way, and when those minerals appear in your water in significant enough amounts, you have a hard water problem.

 

 

A simple way to check whether your water is hard is to take a clean sealable container and place a little liquid soap or shampoo inside. Next, fill the container about half full and shake. In soft water, the soap will lather up very well, filling up the empty half of the bottle with suds. in hard water, through, the minerals don’t let the soap do its job, and instead it forms soap scum. Nasty, isn’t it?

 

A map illustrating water hardness in the US.

 

 

 

What’s nastier is what hard water does as long as it’s running through your house. Some of the negatives of hard water include:

 

• Scale collecting inside pipes and around fixtures
• Decreased laundry detergent cleaning power
• Possible skin irritation when soap is not completely washed off of skin after a bath/shower
• Spotting and streaking on dishes and utensils
• Damage to water-intensive appliances like water heaters and dishwashers due to mineral deposits

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