What Minerals Are in Hard Water and How They Affect You
Is Hard Water Secretly Damaging Your Skin and Hair? Know the Truth About the Minerals Hiding in Your Water! Water is life, but not everyone’s drinking water is created equal. One of the most significant differences is between hard water and soft water. Hard water has high levels of dissolved minerals, mainly calcium and some magnesium ions. It may seem harmless, just water hardness but these minerals can affect your skin and hair over time. What Is Hard Water? Hard water is water that has a high mineral content. These minerals are mainly calcium carbonate and magnesium, though iron and other trace minerals dissolved salts can also be present. Rainwater is naturally soft when it falls to the ground, but as it passes through layers of soil and rock, it picks up these dissolved salts and minerals and becomes hard water. Soft water has little to no dissolved minerals though, making it gentler on your skin, hair, and household appliances. Hard water can disrupt the effectiveness of soaps and detergents. It can also lead to deposits of calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, and magnesium hydroxide inside pipes and boilers, reducing water flow and heating efficiency. What Minerals Are Found In Hard Water? Hard water contains a high concentration of dissolved minerals, primarily calcium, magnesium, and iron. These minerals are absorbed as the water passes through soil and rock, rich in mineral deposits. While hard water is safe to drink, hard water minerals can negatively affect household appliances, plumbing, skin, and hair. Below, we’ll discuss what minerals are in hard water and how they enter the drinking water and supply. Your body needs minerals such as calcium and magnesium, and some studies show that hard water with calcium and lower magnesium concentrations has been linked to lower mortality rates for cardiovascular disease. Calcium Calcium is the most common mineral in hard water. It gets into the water supply as rainwater flows through limestone, chalk, and gypsum areas. These rocks are full of calcium carbonate, which dissolves into the water and increases the calcium and magnesium carbonate concentration in the mineral content. The same excess calcium carbonate and calcium concentration in hard water can cause scaling in pipes and appliances, dry skin, and dull hair. Calcium is what gives the hardness of water the hardness of water when out of water, its “hardness” in hard water is calcium concentration. The more calcium, the more complex the total hardness of water. While calcium is good for bone health, it can build up over time in the water, cause damage to plumbing, and even affect your hair and skin. Magnesium Another hard water mineral is magnesium. Like both calcium and magnesium, magnesium gets into the water supply as rainwater flows over and through rocks. Specifically, rocks like dolomite and certain clays are rich in calcium and magnesium. As the water flows through these rocks, magnesium dissolves and gets into the water supply as dissolved calcium and magnesium also do, contributing to the water hardness of water as the mineral salts the water. Hard water is generally high in mineral salts, especially calcium, and magnesium carbonates. Magnesium in drinking water and hard water is harmful to the skin and hair. It can cause dryness and irritation, making your skin more prone to breakouts and irritation. Also, magnesium in drinking water can make your hair feel rough, frizzy, and unmanageable, and it prevents moisture from penetrating your hair strands. Magnesium deficiency may increase the contractility of blood vessels. Iron Iron in surface water is found in areas where groundwater flows through iron-rich soils or rocks. The dissolved iron particles get into the water, giving it a reddish-brown tint, especially in areas with high concentrations of iron mineral content throughout. Iron in hard water is noticeable due to staining on clothes, plumbing fixtures, and skin. It can also contribute to hard water buildup in pipes and inefficient plumbing systems. For your skin and hair, iron can be very damaging. Prolonged exposure to iron-rich hard water can cause dry, brittle hair and exacerbate skin conditions, causing irritation, itching, and discoloration. In extreme cases, iron in water can stain skin and hair, making it a hassle for daily hygiene. Other Trace Minerals In addition to permanent hardness caused by magnesium levels, temporary hardness, due to magnesium salts total water hardness, due to calcium, more magnesium salts, and iron, the minerals in hard water may also include trace amounts of copper, manganese, and aluminum. These minerals are in much smaller quantities but can still contribute to water hardness and affect your household. For example, copper can cause greenish stains in bathtubs and sinks, while manganese can cause blackish stains and contribute to complex water effects on appliances and skin. Knowing all the hard water minerals is critical to protecting your skin, hair, and home from adverse health effects because of hard water damage. How Can You Safely Test for Hard Water at Home? You can easily test for hard water at home using a soap test or an inexpensive water hardness test kit. DIY Hard Water Test Kits One of the easiest ways to see if your well water heater is hard is by using a DIY hard water heater test kit. These are available online or at home improvement stores and are easy to use. Here’s how: Step 1: Fill a Container with Tap Water – Collect a water sample from your tap in a clean container. Step 2: Add the Test Strip – Submerge the test strip into the water and wait for the recommended time, usually a few seconds. Step 3: Compare the Color – After removing the strip, compare the color to the chart provided with the kit. Each color corresponds to a different level of hardness, the amount of calcium and magnesium in your water. DIY kits are quick and affordable to get a general idea of your water’s hardness. But they may not tell you about other contaminants in the water. Professional Water Testing