Although hard water doesn’t pose any serious health risk, it can cause some minor skin irritations and lead to long-term corrosion damage in your plumbing system. Research has shown that about 90 percent of households in the United States deal with hard water problems. Therefore, it’s highly likely that you will also experience this problem in your house. This article tells you what to do if your area has hard water.

Simple Ways to Manage Hard Water Problems

Hard water is any water with high mineral content. It is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, gypsum, or chalk, which contain large amounts of calcium and magnesium. Showering in hard water leaves a sticky film on your skin that can cause irritation. It also leaves your clothes feeling stiff and looking dirty. If you are already having this problem, here are simple ways to deal with hard water.

Boiling Temporary Hard Water

Boiling hard water helps to dissolve and separate minerals from the water. The outcome is softer water. However, boiling only removes temporary hardness. Permanent hardness means that your water has dissolved calcium sulfate that can’t be removed by boiling.

Use Hard Water Cleaning Aid

When you mix hard water with soap, it causes a reaction that creates soap scum—a white dense build-up found on water fixtures. This scum also accumulates on sinks, shower doors, tubs, drains, tiles, and other water fixtures. Soap scum is formed when the positively-charged calcium atoms in water prevent soap molecules from dissolving. You can fix this problem by using a cleaning formula meant for cleaning hard water. This cleaning aid contains a special solution that captures positive calcium atoms in hard water, allowing you to rinse away soap and prevent them from forming soap scum.

Use Washing Soda

If you are doing laundry with hard water, use washing soda. This is a chemical that’s made up of carbonic acid salt (sodium carbonate) that softens both permanent and temporary hardness. Simply put, washing soda removes dissolved calcium and magnesium in hard water. By getting rid of the mineral ions in your hard water, you are left with softer water that allows your soap to lather up quickly.

Water Softeners

If none of the above solutions works for you, you should try faucet water softeners. The two main types of faucet water softeners are sodium or potassium chloride-based water softeners and salt-free water softeners. Alternatively, you can install a whole-house water softening system. For more information on dealing with hard water, talk to 1-800 Plumber of CT.