Is hard water bad for you? 2 water quality engineers explain the potential advantages and pitfalls that include having hard water

When you switch in your faucet to get a glass of water or wash your face, you’re probably not eager about what’s in your water – besides water. Depending on where you reside and whether you’ve got a water-softening system, your water might contain dissolved minerals akin to calcium and magnesium. And these minerals can play a task in whether certain pollutants akin to lead stay out of your water.

The more dissolved minerals, the “harder” your water. But is difficult water actually good or bad for you?

As engineering researchers who study water quality, we’ve got seen the consequences – each good and bad – that soft and hard water can have on all the pieces from plumbing systems to the human body.

What is difficult water?

Hard water is water that accommodates dissolved minerals akin to calcium, magnesium, iron and manganese. Soft water accommodates lower concentrations of those minerals.

Hardness is measured by way of calcium carbonate, CaCO₃, which is used as a reference point for comparing different minerals.

The amount of those minerals in a city’s water supply varies by region. It depends upon each where the water is coming from and the way the water is treated.

Communities that source their water from wells moderately than surface water akin to lakes, streams, rivers and reservoirs often start with hard water pretreatment. As groundwater moves through the soil to a well, it picks up minerals. At the identical time, areas where the kinds of rock and sediment are more vulnerable to dissolving in water can have harder water.

Effects on water lines and distribution

Water that’s too hard or too soft could damage pipes and result in health and aesthetic concerns.

Since hard water has a better mineral concentration, minerals can construct up in pipes, which ends up in clogged pipes in homes and public water systems. Hardness also creates more deposits at higher temperaturesso hot water heaters are vulnerable to mineral buildup. In areas with hard water, water heaters have a shorter life span.

But hard water may also help, too. While minerals from hard water can clog pipes, a skinny layer of mineral deposition in water lines can protect you from ingesting toxins that might seep in from the pipe itself. Water with none minerals can play a task in pipe corrosion, because and not using a thin, protective layer of minerals, the water may begin to eat away on the pipes, releasing metals from the pipes into the water. Drinking this water might mean ingesting metals akin to lead, copper and iron.

While water that is simply too soft or too hard can have different effects on water lines, there may be more chemistry than simply hardness that plays a task in pipe corrosion and clogging. So, there’s no specific hardness level that may be a cause for concern. Water treatment plants take the suitable measures to regulate for various hardness levels.

Effects on skin and hair

Whether you utilize hard or soft water to clean up also can have noticeable effects in your skin and hair.

Hard water is more more likely to leave your skin dry. The minerals in hard water strip moisture from skin and create deposits that clog pores.

Hard water also can strip the hair of moisture, leaving it dry and coarse. Dry hair is more vulnerable to frizz, tangles and breakage. Mineral deposits also can construct up on the hair and scalp, clogging your hair follicles and resulting in dandruff and slowed hair growth.

Many households have their very own water-softening systems. A water-softening system may help hair and skin dryness and buildup. But a lot of these systems trap and replace calcium and magnesium with sodium, a mineral that doesn’t contribute to water hardness, to lower overall hardness. Increasing the water’s sodium content could also be a priority for anyone on a low-sodium food regimen.

Overall health advantages

Other than aesthetic and water heater concerns, drinking hard water is actually good for you and doesn’t include any serious antagonistic uncomfortable side effects.

For example, the additional magnesium and calcium you eat in hard water may provide a mild solution to digestive issues and constipation.

Also, researchers have found positive correlations between the hardness of drinking water and bone health. Since calcium is a necessary mineral in bonesindividuals in areas with drinking water that has more calcium can have higher bone mineral density and should be less prone to osteoporosis.

Researchers have also found that drinking hard water has been related to a decrease in cardiovascular disease-related mortality. Magnesium helps regulate your cardiac muscles, while calcium keeps the sodium-potassium balance in your cardiac muscles in check, which they should function.

Whether you’ve got hard or soft water, don’t worry an excessive amount of. Water treatment plants take appropriate measures to make sure protected water for the communities they support.

To learn more concerning the water hardness in your area, you’ll be able to contact your local water treatment plant about its specific water treatment process. Private well owners can contact their state government to search out out the testing recommendations for his or her area.