Water plays an important role in our daily lives, from cooking and drinking to bathing and cleaning. However, not all water is the same. You may have heard the terms “soft water” and “hard water” before. What do they really mean, or more importantly, how do they impact your health, home and everyday water use? Let’s break it down and explore the important differences between soft and hard water.
What is Hard Water?
Hard water has high levels of dissolved minerals like magnesium and calcium, which, over time, can lead to a range of household problems within appliances and plumbing.
What is Soft Water?
Soft water, on the other hand, has low levels of calcium and magnesium. It’s often produced using water softening systems that exchange these minerals for sodium ions, resulting in water that is gentler on appliances and plumbing.
How is Water Hardness Measured?
There are simple test strips available from hardware stores to estimate water hardness. These strips change colour to indicate overall hardness levels, providing a quick and easy way to assess whether the water in your home is soft, moderately hard or hard.
For more accurate results, you can send a water sample to a lab. This testing provides a more precise measurement of mineral concentrations and a clearer understanding of how hard your water is.
Understanding your water’s hardness level can help you decide if you need a water treatment system and which option would best suit your needs.
How Does Hard Water Affect You?
There are a few advantages to having a septic system:
Hair & skin health
If your hair is brittle or your skin is dry, hard water might be a contributing factor. Soft water helps maintain hydration levels in your skin and permits hair to feel lighter and more relaxed.
Household appliances & plumbing
The build-up of limescale from hard water can make appliances less efficient and shorter-lived. Over time, this decreases their lifespan. Soft water reduces these problems and ensures appliances work longer without a deep limescale cleaning procedure.
Laundry & cleaning
Hard water can make household cleaning harder because the minerals interfere with the detergents. The calcium and magnesium in hard water bind with the soap to form scum, which reduces lather and can leave residue on clothes and surfaces. Laundry washed in hard water can appear duller and lose softness over time. Soft water improves how soap and detergents work, resulting in cleaner laundry with better fabric feel and fewer spots or streaks.
Soften Hard Water
You can soften hard water with whole-home softeners that use ion exchange resins. These systems are reliable for reducing calcium and magnesium. Other methods, like reverse osmosis and membrane systems, can also reduce hardness.
Home remedies, such as adding lemon juice, don’t actually remove the minerals that cause hardness. Likewise, magnetic or electronic water conditioners don’t have strong scientific backing and aren’t effective at controlling scale or softening water.
