Haven’t ever suffered from the effects of hard water? If that’s the case, you likely don’t drink water or use it for cleaning, irrigating or bathing. Whether you know it or not, hard water could be affecting your life more than you know – in ways you may or may not see. Sure, you’re annoyed with the unsightly hard water stains on your windows that obscure your outdoor view, but what other effects can hard water have on your life? We’ll give you the 411.
What is Hard Water?
In a nutshell, water is “hard” when it contains minerals. Because water acts as such a good, natural solvent, it’s easy for it to pick up mineral deposits, like calcium, magnesium. Once this happens, the water is no longer comprised of simply hydrogen and oxygen. As hard water is poured or sprayed onto surfaces, you’ll begin noticing hard water spots, because those minerals remain on a surface after the water has evaporated.
Drinking Hard Water
If you fear you’re drinking hard water, don’t worry so much. If your home is linked to a municipal water system, and you don’t use a water purification system, don’t sweat it. Studies actually show that drinking hard water isn’t detrimental to health – and can, in fact, offer drinkers needed nutrients, like calcium. As of yet, no studies show any long-term health effects of hard water. Of course, you might be able to detect a subtle difference in the taste of the water, which might compel you to use a water filtration system.
Washing in Hard Water
While drinking hard water may not hurt you, your hair and skin will likely notice if your home’s water is hard. That’s because the minerals in hard water mix with the soap or shampoo you use and create a film that is difficult to wash from the skin. This film (which also ends up on the surfaces of your shower walls, floor, and doors, can actually prevent the soap from doing its job – keeping you clean. Additionally, that film can cause you a whole lot of itching – and in our experience, it’s never a good idea to be scratching yourself in polite company.
Ladies (and gents!), if your hair is looking lifeless or dull, hard water could be to blame. Those mineral deposits often don’t wash out of your hair completely, leaving it feeling sticky and stripping it of its natural shine.
Using Hard Water in the Shower
As we said before, showering in hard water has some not-great effects on your hair and skin. But it also takes a toll on the shower itself. As hard water flows through the pipes to the showerhead, those minerals deposit in the pipes and build up over time, which will inevitably constrict the flow of water and reduce your water pressure (also making it harder to get clean). Additionally, hard water can leave mineral deposits on glass shower doors and other surfaces, and lead to some serious soap scum when those minerals mix with cleaning agents.
Hard Water for Cleaning
If you’ve ever gotten frustrated over unsightly hard water stains on your windows, we hear you; hard water is one of the most common reasons our clients call us to help make their windows sparkle again. Often, water used for sprinklers and irrigation – or even the “house water” you use to clean the windows yourself, do you a big disservice. That’s because, as the water evaporates in the sun, these mineral deposits are left behind, making your windows look dull, cloudy and anything but “sparkling.” Naturally, at Window Sparkle, not only would we never use hard water to clean your windows, but we’ll also remove those unsightly deposits in order to get your home shining again.
Got a few hard water woes? Don’t let your windows be one of them. Call us today.
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