Myth or Fact 3 Reasons Soft Water Is Better for You

You can’t turn on your faucets and identify whether you have hard water or soft water just by the way that it flows. Hard water refers to water that contains more than just hydrogen and oxygen. Instead, the water will contain molecules that can either be safe to consume or dangerous. When the water contains added minerals, those calcium, magnesium, and iron deposits will turn soft water into hard water.

Surveys show that around 85 percent of residences in the US have hard water. If you fall into a rural or suburban area with a hard water supply, there’s a solution. There are plenty of water softener units that pulls the minerals out of the water and stores them in a tank. Here are 3 reasons why it’s better to have mineral-free water:

Minerals and body soap do not react. That means that hard water, that’s full of grains of magnesium and calcium isn’t going to react well when you’re showering and trying to get a good lather. In fact, scientists have proven that the fatty acids in soaps and shampoos, and shaving cream have a negative chemical reaction that turns them into ineffective soaps that won’t get sudsy or clean.

If you wash in hard water, you’ll be washing the same deposits in your hair and on your skin that build up on your tub walls. If your hair ever feels dull and dry, or your skin no longer feels soft, a big problem could be that you’re not getting a soapy lather that effectively helps you wash away dirt and scum.

You never really realize how much hard water could be affecting your daily routines until you learn how it affects each thing you do. Not only is your skin and your hair suffering, your clothes could be suffering too. Hard water causes a similar problem with laundry detergents because the deposits prevent the detergent’s cleaning power from being activated.

Since the soap sits there on the clothes and never fully washes off, it causes the clothes to be even more soiled after a wash. That means your whites turn dingy and your colors fade. If you wear the clothes washed in hard water, it can irritate your skin.

Have you ever wondered why your energy bills went up when you moved to a hard water area? Part of the reason could be because your hard water is making your gas water heater inefficient. If you have just 5 grains of minerals in 1 gallon of your water, it could lead to an 8 percent loss in energy efficiency. With soft water, you spend less for your gas utilities and you contribute to reducing your carbon footprint. If you aren’t sure about how much of a difference it can make, you might consult a company like Bedell Plumbing Inc. to get more information.

Living in an area where the water supply is hard can be frustrating but there are solutions. Consider trying water treatments or price the cost of a softener. With so many benefits of going soft, you’ll never want hard water again.