At some point, you may suspect that you have hard water. From cloudy dishes to dry skin and hair, too many minerals in your water can have a negative effect on your day to day life. Once you understand the cause of hard water, as well as the impact on your life, you can take action to improve the quality of the water that enters your home. The cause of hard water is simple to understand. Underground minerals – such as calcium sulfate, limestone and calcium carbonate – absorb into water before it reaches your home. Water that has too many of these minerals is known as “hard.” In other words, the hardness level of your water is directly attributed to the concentration of minerals in your water.
What Can You Do About It?
Since hard water can impact you in many ways, from the way you feel to the efficiency of your appliances, you don’t want to sit back and hope for the best. You need to take action. Here’s the tricky part: hard water can and does differ from one location to the next. So, while you may have hard water in your home, someone 20 miles away may not face the same concern. Furthermore, the quality of your water can change over time. Before you take action, it’s important to know if you have hard water. Here are a few signs to look for:
- Mineral deposits left behind after water evaporates. Known as scaling, this appears as powdery or white spots on dishes and glasses.
- Build up in your plumbing systems, which can clog pipes and slow down water flow.
- Dry, rough hair and skin.
- A feeling of being sticky even after you take a shower.
If you suspect hard water, test it yourself or ask your city for a copy of the drinking water quality report. This will give you a clear idea of whether you have hard water, and how bad it is. If you find that you have hard water, there’s a simple solution: install a whole house water softener. With one of these in place, every drop of water that comes through your plumbing system is treated. This guarantees that you no longer have to deal with hard water entering your home.
