What is Hard Water?

For those people who question themselves, “what is hard water?” let's discuss everything about hard water. Hard water is the water that contains magnesium and calcium minerals. Hard water occurs when naturally soft rainwater falls on soil, such as limestone or chalk. As rainwater falls on the ground it meets magnesium and calcium particles, and along the way, those particles get dissolved in the water before entering your home.

As the mineral concentrations of hard water are higher in the hard water, it generates limescale build-up in your home. It makes the water look dirty. Hard water can shorten the lifespan of your appliances by reducing their efficiency.

Types of Hard Water

There are two main types of hard water. Let's discuss these types of hard water. 

Temporary Hard Water

Temporary hardness occurs due to bicarbonate minerals like magnesium bicarbonate and calcium bicarbonate dissolved in water. These yield cations of calcium and magnesium along with carbonate and bicarbonate anions. The existence of these cations and anions makes the water hard. Eventually, this temporary hardness of water can be removed by boiling the water.

Permanent Hard Water

Permanent hardness takes place from the existence of calcium sulfate/calcium chloride or magnesium sulfate/magnesium chloride. The appearance of these ions makes it difficult to eliminate the hardness of water even by boiling. The permanent hardness can only be decreased by hard water softener but not with any natural methods. 

What does hard water usually contain?

Hard water contains a number of minerals. Here are the following minerals that make your water Hard. 

What causes hard water?

Water can dissolve chemical compounds. When rain falls on sedimentary rocks, it dissolves small amounts of chemical compounds with it. These chemical compounds are calcium and magnesium.

As the water that contains minerals travels, it starts to get mixed with rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Through different water supply systems, it gets entered into our house and then used for various purposes.  

How do you know if you have hard water?

Hard water leaves white, chalky spots on the utensils, and clothes fall rough and dull. It builds up limescale on faucets and leaves ugly stains on white porcelain.

Hard water is not beneficial for skin and hair, it makes them look dull because hard water doesn’t rinse away completely. As showers and faucets are clogged, water pressure gets lowered. These are signs that one can identify and know that they have hard water.

How is water hardness measured?

Hard water is measured in grains per gallon. If you have difficulty with soap scum, you should test for hard water. To test the hardness of the water at home, you can use hard water testers available in the market.

What are the advantages of hard water?

Here are some of the advantages of hard water, you need to know about:

1) It has high concentrations of minerals.

2) As both calcium and magnesium are abundant in hard water. As a result, drinking hard water makes your bones and teeth stronger.

3) Due to the right mix of calcium and manganese, it helps in curing constipation.

4) Hard water tastes better than soft water.

What are the disadvantages of Hard Water?

Given below are the disadvantages of hard water.

1) Hard water leaves spots on utensils.

2) Clothes do not get clean due to the lack of lather formation.

3) It may use more energy than soft water.

4) It can reduce the efficiency and health of home appliances.

5) It may cause skin irritation and dryness.

6) Hard water not only damages the pipe but can also clog it.

What are the hard water solutions for the home?

As there are high concentrations of minerals, hard water can sometimes leave behind a chalky scum called limestone. You can obstruct this by-

What is water softening?

A water-softening system works by rushing hard water through a resin — a sticky, insolvable substance from definite trees and plants — that’s covered with positively charged sodium ions.

The gathering of sodium basically replaces the magnesium and calcium in the water. Water softening units require regular maintenance, and sodium pellets need to keep the resin electrically charged.

There are also systems that use magnets, citric acid, or other means of decreasing the calcium and magnesium gatherings in the water.

Is water softening safe?

Bacteria and fungi can be found on the resin of a water-softening system, so to keep the water safe cleaning and maintenance should be done regularly.

If someone in your home is on a low-sodium diet, you should have a word with the vendor of the softening system to know how much sodium is being put into the water.

If you still have to worry about your health then reach out to a cardiologist about how water softening could affect your blood pressure.

Conclusion 

This is all you need to know about hard water and how you can soften it at home if you are facing a problem by using hard water. We hope that people who have this question, "What is hard water?" must have found the answer to their question.

Here you can learn about the Difference Between Hard water and Soft water.