Hard water in your home can affect your appliances, skin, and overall health if it isn’t taken care of. It can cause water issues that cost thousands of dollars in plumber fees and can damage your entire home plumbing system. Hard water can also ruin your appliances, such as your washing machine, dishwasher, water heater, and even your coffee maker. In order to tell if you have hard water, you first need to understand what it is.
What is Hard Water?
Water hardness refers to the amount of calcium (or calcium carbonate) and magnesium that has dissolved in your water. Hard water is water that is high in these dissolved minerals. Soft water refers to water that is free from these excess mineral deposits.
Hard water can cause many health risks and should be put through a filtration process to soften it.
How to Tell if You Have Hard Water – Signs of Hard Water
There are some signs you can look for to know if your home water is hard water. These are some telltale signs that your home has hard water:
- Water Pressure – the water flow from your faucets or shower head is extremely low.
- Mineral Buildup – you see mineral spots left behind on your clothing or glassware.
- Soap Scum – washing your hands leaves behind a soap residue.
- Products Don’t Lather – your shampoo or soap doesn’t seem to lather or foam suds in the shower.
- Drinking Water Tastes Off – tap water has a mineral taste to it.
- White Residue Left Behind at Water Sources – for example, your refrigerator’s water dispenser has a white residue that’s hard to clean off.
- Your Pipes Are Clogged – scale buildup that’s causing blockages in your pipes may be another sign you have hard water.
Effects of Hard Water
Hard water can affect your health and your home. Skin irritation is a common problem that people with hard water in their home experience. Hard water not only causes itchy skin and dry skin, but it can also worsen conditions like eczema and psoriasis.
Excess water minerals can also lessen the life of your home appliances. When minerals start to build up in your pipes, it causes your appliances to work harder and become less efficient.
Fix a Hard Water Problem With a Water Softener
Hard water can be solved with a simple water treatment. Installing a whole house water filter and a water softener system can help fix your hard water problems. Water softeners work by replacing calcium ions in your water with sodium ions since sodium is more soluble. Water softeners help to reduce the hardness level of your water and can help protect both your home and your health.
Schedule a Free Water Test
If you are a homeowner and want to find out what’s in your water, schedule a free water hardness test with EcoWater. Our hard water test will not only determine your water’s mineral content, but it will also test your overall water quality.
Our water quality report will tell you exactly what contaminants are in your water based on your water sample, and we’ll provide you with solutions on how to get rid of them. Although DIY water test kits are also available online, they aren’t as accurate, and won’t be able to provide you with all the details you need to know about your home water supply.