Hard and Soft Water and Your House

By Maid Brigade of Northern Connecticut

What’s the difference between hard water and soft water and how does it affect your household?

Hard water is water that has high mineral content. Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of calcium and magnesium-containing minerals such as limestone, chalk and dolomite.

In your home, hard water is often indicated by a lack of suds formation when soap is agitated in water, and by the formation of limescale in kettles and water heaters.

With hard water, soap solutions form a white precipitate (soap scum) instead of producing lather.

Hard water also forms deposits that clog plumbing. These deposits, called “scale,” are composed mainly of calcium carbonate, magnesium hydroxide, and calcium sulfate. Calcium and magnesium carbonates tend to be deposited as off-white solids on the inside surfaces of pipes and heat exchangers. The resulting build-up of scale restricts the flow of water in pipes.

In boilers, the deposits impair the flow of heat into water, reducing the heating efficiency and allowing the metal boiler components to overheat. In a pressurized system, this overheating can lead to failure of the boiler.

Hard water is harder on appliances because lime burns out the water heater elements. Washing machines can wear out up to 30 percent faster. It is also harder on dishes because it can leave a lime build up on glasses and other dishes.

Iron, sulfur, and magnesium leave rust stains and can make general cleaning more difficult. Hard water can also wear out clothes faster because you need to use more detergent than necessary.

Cleaning products can be reduced by 50 percent with soft water.

Water softening is the removal of calcium, magnesium, and certain other metal cations in hard water. The resulting soft water is more compatible with soap and extends the lifetime of plumbing. Water softening is usually achieved using lime softening or ion-exchange resins.

The slippery feeling you feel when using soap with soft water occurs because soaps tend to bind to fats in the surface layers of skin, making soap molecules difficult to remove by simple dilution.

In contrast, in hard-water areas, the rinse water contains calcium or magnesium ions which form insoluble salts, effectively removing the residual soap from the skin but potentially leaving a coating of insoluble stearates on tub and shower surfaces – soap scum.

Those who dislike the sliminess and difficulty of washing off soap caused by soft water may harden the water by adding chemicals such as baking soda, calcium chloride, or magnesium sulphate.

Need a little help around the house? Give Maid Brigade of Central Connecticut a call at 860-645-6243 and we’ll help you out.