There is no danger to your health from hard water’s natural minerals, but they may corrode your plumbing system as well as other water-using appliances and make it more difficult to wash dishes, clothing, and skin. Hair and skin care might be made more difficult by hard water. US Geological Survey estimates that 85 percent of all homes in the United States have issues with hard water.
Problems with Hard Water Detection and Resolution
Minerals from rock, such as calcium, magnesium carbonate and manganese dissolved in water, are gathered and released into the water supply as hard water from aquifers and other subsurface sources. Hardness” is a term used to describe the undesirable properties that certain minerals impart to water. Hardness may be measured in terms of grains per gallon (GPG) or parts per million of mineral (PPM) in certain cases (PPM). 17.1 PPM is the equivalency of one GPG.
What Is the Term “Hard Water” Used for?
Actually, water that contains dissolved hardness minerals in concentrations up to 3.75 GPG is considered soft even though it technically qualifies as hard since it contains more than 1 GPG. It’s difficult to drink water that’s more than 10.5 GPG hard. Normal, medium-hard water is in the middle of the two extremes.
Due to the presence of hard water
Hard water is more of a potential financial burden than a health risk. Scale is formed when dissolved hard-water minerals are heated, resulting in blockages in the plumbing system or water-using equipment, which might be difficult to detect until a breakdown occurs in the system or the equipment. Dishwashers and coffee makers, for example, suffer from scale and lime buildup, which need more frequent maintenance.
Water heaters, on the other hand, are more likely to fail if scale builds up on the inside of them. The Water Quality Research Council at New Mexico State University found that water heaters with hard-water scale operate between 22 and 30 percent worse than those without.
When you bathe, cook, wash the dishes, or clean the house, the inconvenience of hard water becomes clear. A broad variety of soaps, shampoos, cleaner and detergent react with calcium and magnesium to reduce their lather and cleaning power, causing you to use more and rinse for longer than normal. Scum on the tile and what seems to be a stubborn bathtub ring are also a result of the buildup. Spotting on plates and scaling on cooking utensils are two common culinary manifestations of “soap curd.” Due to the presence of hard-water minerals, such as iron and manganese, the water may have an unappealing appearance, odour, or flavour.
As far as health is concerned, those with hard water are more likely to have skin problems such as rashes and acne because it alters the pH of their skin, allowing soaps to adhere to their skin and clog pores.
Types of Water Softener
Most whole-house water softeners employ ion-exchange or “cation exchange” technology, but there are a few other options available as well. We’ll go more specific about the differences in the next sections.
Salt-free water softening technology
A salt-free water softener regenerates utilizing potassium-chloride salt instead of sodium, which is more cost-effective for the consumer. This kind of unit may be a preferable option for those who are concerned about their salt intake. However, it does not soften hard water minerals, but rather functions as a de-scaler to keep minerals from building up on the surfaces of water-using appliances and pipes.
