Is Your Home Being Devastated by Hard Water?

When you look at your faucets do you see built up accumulations of white scale deposits around them? If so, what you are seeing are the effects of having hard water. This type of water is the result of having a very high concentration of minerals such as magnesium and calcium. And although hard water is not unhealthy, it does cause a wide variety of other problems that can be a real hassle to have to deal with.

What causes hard water?

In a nutshell the cause of having hard water is due to your soil makeup. As water travels through the soil, it breaks up various minerals, most notably calcium and magnesium. These minerals then mix in with the water and create hard water. Depending on what area of the country you live in your soil may contain very high amounts of magnesium and calcium which increases the level of hard water in your water supply.

What is affected in your home by hard water?

As mentioned earlier, hard water affects many areas of your everyday household life, including:

Laundry - Washing your clothes in hard water is one of the bigger issues to contend with. Laundry detergents do not interact well at all in this type of water. What you will notice happening is that your clothes fade much faster than they normally would in regular water. They also feel much stiffer and not as soft as they should. They can also feel a little uncomfortable at times if you have very sensitive skin.

Children's clothes can make the situation even worse because when they play outdoors and get dirt on their pants, the minerals mix in with the wash water and further increase the problem. By continually washing your clothes in hard water you will actually lose 40% of their life expectancy.

Bath / Shower - If you have ever taken a bath or shower in hard water then you have most likely noticed how it makes your skin feel like the soap is still on you. It is like a residue that won't come off. In some cases the water can cause you to experience skin irritation, not to mention how it can make your hair look dull and more difficult to manage.

Home Appliances - Naturally, it almost goes without saying that if hard water is going to have such a dramatic effect on your clothes, then it is also going to be hard on your wash machine. Hard water deposits that form on your washer, dishwasher, etc, can cause them to be much more inefficient and even cause them to breakdown much sooner than normal.

Water Pipes - Finally, deposits that form due to hard water will eventually clog water lines and reduce water flow. Over time these pipes can become so clogged that they will need replacement.

Having hard water is really out of your control. The only solution for hard water is the installation of a watering softening system. It is the only thing that will work in eliminating this damaging problem.