Water is water, right? Not entirely. We’ve all heard of hard water versus soft water. We’ve also heard that many times, people want to get rid of hard water and make it softer. In fact, most places have hard water. Many times we simply deal with the effects of hard water, but it actually impacts our day-to-day lives. Hard water can create several problems with skin, clothing, and your fixtures. Here are a few ways that hard water can make your life more difficult.
Laundry Problems
The Spruce explains exactly what can happen to laundry that is washed in hard water. Some of the adverse effects of hard water on your clothes include graying or yellowing due to soil build-up, stiff feel to fabrics, tears due to weakened fabrics, and gray or white streaks on fabrics. Higher levels of calcium and magnesium are two of the main culprits to the stiffness and soil build-up.
Dry, Itchy Skin
The calcium that is in hard water can also build up on your skin, causing dry, itchy skin. Hard water breaks down the collagen and elastin in skin, leaving it dry. The zinc, lead, and magnesium are also the most common culprits in this problem. Also, since the hard water decreases the solvency of other products such as soaps, these soaps are more likely to build up on the skin, hair, and in fixtures such as around the tub or shower.
Plumbing Fixtures
Hard water can cause calcium and lime deposits on showers, shower heads, dish washers, and many other fixtures. They can be removed, but it takes time and, especially with faucets and shower heads, water can actually be slowed down when the build-up becomes so thick that the water can no longer pass through.
Thankfully, there are ways that hard water can be combatted. Plumbing companies, such as Five Star Plumbing are able to negate the effects of hard water through the use of water softeners. With soft water, clothes are cleaner and last longer. Skin also has fewer problems and you will spend less time on maintaining and cleaning all of your fixtures. Water softeners can negate the calcium, magnesium, and zinc that causes many of the problems of hard water.
Many plumbing companies also service the water softeners, making it even easier to ensure that your water softener is working properly. Maintenance, installation, tune-ups, and repairs are just a few of the ways that a plumbing company can help you with your hard water problems.