Complete guide for Hard water Problems, Testing, solutions, and benifits

Do you saw foams on your dishes and soap don’t want to clean? Or found a little white scale on your skin after the shower, and thought you became a fish?
Let me tell you some facts about hard water to know what I am taking about in this Complete Guide for Water Hardness Problems, testing, solution, and benefits as well.
By the way hard water is found in 85 percent of American home water.
White foams from the deposition of mineral salts that do not dissolve in water and forms like scales on dishes as well as on skin and hair, and may cause Eczema to skin cells or hair loss. I am serious, let’s show you how?

I will start with some definitions to be easy to understand scientific issues later.
What is hard water? 
Is a contamination of water by unwanted quantity of hard scale minerals which mainly consists of calcium and magnesium salts.

As the more acidity of water the more mineral salts the more hardness
While Home water present with high mineral content which including magnesium, chalky calcium, and its sulfate and chlorides salts, while carbonate salts of calcium and magnesium are easily dissolved by exposure to boiling temperature 100 Celsius degree.

I think you got confused…
So that let me Explain to you the truth Soft water vs. hard Water!!!

What is hard water and soft water? 
When I heard that for the first sight I thought water is like a man, no I am kidding, lets know the real difference between hard and soft water?
Firstly, you should take a class of chemistry of water.. do not worry I will teach you,
Water comes from different sources, water comes from sea water and rivers water, river’s water is very a freshwater, but sea water and some well water is a salty water,
Hmm, what do I mean by saltwater? is water have salts like food salts?

Not exactly, but salts solved in water are calcium sulfates, Calcium Carbonates, calcium Chlorides, Magnesium sulfate, magnesium carbonate, magnesium chloride and of the salts, but Mg and Ca is the minor salts the make the water hard, water called hard because some mentioned salts it is hard to dissolve in water, and deposits in the bottom of pitchers and dishes…

Water Hardness form a white scale of calcium carbonate, and may be brownish (rust-like), this color means that Iron may be found too.

Further more; Hardness of water has two levels or two types:
First type: water hardened by insoluble calcium Carbonate, Calcium Bi-Carbonate, and magnesium Carbonate, this salts insoluble temporarily in water because it will vanish upon boiling or add some lime (calcium hydroxide) and leave your water soft and fresh, so called temporary hardness of water.

Second type: it is represents the permanent hardness of water which consists of insoluble salts of calcium and magnesium sulfates and chlorides, those salts cannot be dissolved by convenient chemical ways, so that it the need of water filters and water softeners, which I will mention for it later. Be continued.

It is approved between scientists that:
Hard water is the water contains more than 1,000 PPM of total dissolved salts (TDS), and less than 1,000 PPM of total dissolved salts (TDS) is considered Fresh water
Which some times defining the total dissolved salts in water as Total Hardness of water and measure by a unit called PPM, where 1 PPM equals to 1 Mg/dL

What is the Problems of Hard water if found in our drinking water? 
High level of water calcium hardness may be cause many health problems as well as economic loses in home appliances and kitchen tools, for some numerous statistics about how hard water can affect many aspects of our life please read this elements carefully, and later we will prone to show you How to treat every problem alone:

Effects of hard water on biological processes, and how is it causes Health Problems:

• Calcium and magnesium sulfates is the minor constituents of hardness scale, so that if this salts enters human bodies it will cause high blood level of calcium sulfate and magnesium sulfates and calcium chloride which all cannot be dissolved and human body cannot process such elements and chemical compounds, so that hardness salts will cause obstruction of blood stream as will as hypertension and elevated risk of toxicity symptoms like vomiting and fever. 
• Also as WHO recommends that High Hardness salts may develop cardiovascular disease in men, up to a level of 170 mg calcium carbonate per litre of water. Also Recommendations have been made for the maximum and minimum levels of calcium (40–80 ppm) and magnesium (20–30 ppm) in drinking water, and a total hardness expressed as the sum of the calcium and magnesium concentrations of 2–4 mmol/L. 
• Hard water usage may be associated with increased eczema to children’s skin, further more hard water clogs skin’s pores and allows bacteria to grow, more solution at the later chapters in solution section. 
• Hard water has bad effect on Hair: If you ask whether hard water can cause skin problems, I say YES water hardness affects follicles of hair and make your hair dry, rough even when it wet, and dull, lifeless. Color fades quickly, becomes brassy and cannot be managed, especially if you are a swimmer because Swim & Sun is the perfect prescription for hair damaged by ultraviolet rays comes from the Sun, see solution to treat your hair by shampoo and avoid damage of hair by Hard water in pool water, or seawater. 
• Who tells you that the body needs calcium did not knew that only free calcium or protein-bound calcium will processed and benefit the body but insoluble calcium salts cannot processed or even passed the human bio-systems and lead to high risk biological problems, please save your health and
  children’s.

Hard water will affect your kitchen and bath utilities and tools such as coffee maker, several drinking glasses, a number of pieces of Pyrex, a couple of stainless steel, saucepans, and some flatware as well as laundry and clothes damage, be careful... 

1. Higher levels of precipitated hardness salts will clog water pipes which build up a scale that flow with water to your drinking water which lead to high plumbing costs as well. 
2. Water hardness scale will precipitate into pipes, water faucet tap, shower doors which make expensive repairs. 
3. water hardness scale make your water hot, because the hardness scale that composed of calcium salts has the ability to store more heat to rise the water heat more and more as calcium salt particles built up, it is a solution to make electricity bill low at the end of month, it is your health buddy.. 
4. Hardness of water will lower the full lathering function of shampoo and most types of soap; you will consume a lot of soap pieces I know. 
5. Hard water also affects clothes of laundry which appear as White or gray streaks on colored fabrics and Weakening of fibers causing tears, Oh my clothes, once I traveled with my college voyage, the water at the region of landing was full of hardness, and my cloths lost . 
6. Hardness of water affects you at kitchen which makes filming (not a Bio-film caused by grease and fats on dishes) and spotting on glassware and dishes, especially appliances concerned with heating, while heating water speeds calcium salts precipitation on inner layers of dishes and other dishwasher’s heating element. 
7. Clog up dishwasher’s pipes due to P.P.Ted calcium scale deposits which results in low soft water passes the pipes, so the the supply line may be junked and lead to high fixing expenses, you won’t more costs.. Right? 
8. In swimming pools, hard water is manifested by a turbid or cloudy (milky), appearance to the water. Calcium and magnesium hydroxides are both soluble in water. The solubility of the hydroxides of the alkaline-earth metals to which calcium and magnesium belong (group 2 of the periodic table), so that pool water becomes more alkaline (PH>7.6, PH is the measurement of alkalinity or acidity of
   chemical solutions)… I will show you the solution later…

Hard water treatment solutions: 

Here a list of many suggestions to show you how to fix/solve hard water problems, whatever the hardness affect your body skin, hair, or your home appliances or you suffer from hardness in water of pool or your water well, I suggest you a solution of those:

1. Do not be lazy and check dishwasher and its pipes periodically to avoid any minerals deposited and may be pipes clogged up. 
2. It is a money matter I know, but I must tell you that it is necessary to use and install water filtration systems for home uses like wash dishes machines, laundry clothing machines, bathroom utilities of soap, shampoo and cleaning detergents of toilet, etc.., A lot of brands of water filters out there as aqua pure water filters my favor one, as filter differentiate into several types, there are filter with porous size from 3 micron until 5 micron and filters uses Ion-exchange to purify water and filters that uses beds of Activated carbon or So called RO filtration systems, and whether you use filter for travel or want a whole house water filter, later I will tell you How to choose the best and cheap water filter, be aware of my blog, do not go any way. J 
3. Install water softener to dissolve the poor-soluble or insoluble salts of whatever minerals in water, yes there is a invention called water softener, first time I heard that I thought it is a merchant’s speech and cannot be found, but with a little search and learn as I told you before, now I know a lot of things about softeners uses, types and even well-known manufacturers, the Scientific behind the softening of water is a common method for water softening involves the use of ion exchange resins, which replace ions like Ca2+ by twice the number of mono-cations such as sodium or potassium ions. all about water softeners and what are soft water systems can do to softening your water plus the best water softener list such as culligan water softener and kinetico water softener And more about water softeners later… 
4. What if I had no money for buying filter or softeners, I think that, I pruned to the same situations too, well just follow my advice, Only acid based cleaners are the best detergent for hardness water dissolution, because hardness salts will highly dissolved in acid medium, I know it is a scientific a little bit, but trust me acidic detergent has a large capability to solve whatever hardness scales, I know you told me there is a money problem, don’t worry, with vinegar at only eighty cents a gallon, I'd dump in three or four gallons. Also, in the future, use powdered detergent that has been fortified with 10-20% of TSP, where vinegar contains an organic Acid called acetic acid to acidify water of cleaning. 
5. In swimming Pools: while maintaining the chlorine concentration at the proper level, raise the acidity (lower the pH) by the addition of hydrochloric acid, the optimum value being in the range of 7.2 to 7.6
6. To save your hair from hard water in pool water or seawater you may use Hard Water Weekly Demineralizer. On a weekly treatment basis to remove harmful buildup, restore shine and manageability, junking follicles and help remove further formation of salts scales, or you can buy a water purifiers for shower which is more cheaper than water softeners and give you water free of chlorine, heavy metals, and harmful minerals found in hard water, Aquasana is the brand most recommended out there, I saw some guys out there recommend a L’anza clarifying shampoo instead of ordinary shampoo because it cheaper and do a clarification and purification jobs too unlike the convenient shampoos in addition to its ability to save hair color too especially for color-treated hair and get hair Color stays vibrant, More manageable and full, Silky, easy to comb and Dazzling shine, you can go to grocery store and buy one, or you can use Extra Gentle, Sulfate-Free and EDTA-Free Chelating Shampoo. Chelating shampoo such from L’anzo can be used on a daily basis and give your hair best performance and great consistency, just try the L’anza Daily Chelating Shampoo, I heard a lot of people recommend it out of there, many of good shampoo brands like Bumble and Bumble Sunday Shampoo, Pureology Purify Shampoo, and conditioners that contain natural ingredients and do not contain sulfate, such as pureology and l’anza. They are more expensive, but definitely worth it, I will mention these brands with full details soon, be with my blog, do not go away. 
7. Best laundry detergent for hard water: people recommended me before t use a detergent called Sears detergent, and also may use a powder detergent as Tide more coming later… 
8. Best soap for hard water for skin care and comfortable shower: I've read that synthetic detergents, like Irish Sport and Dial etc are best to use w/ hard water. Apparently, they use derivatives of EDTA and Sodium Carbonate to essentially attached to the minerals in hard water and prevent them from sticking to your skin and forming the scum, more explanations and products will recommended with the time… be here later. 

Hard water benefits
It is not a joke, yes hard water is not completely bad and not completely neglected, so the question is; how can housewives use water with hardness?

Firstly I argue you, don’t ever use hard water for in-home or indoor uses as you may name it such as washing kitchenware or bathing tasks, do not take a shower with hard water, you will suffer of itching your skin, no kidding, as well as if you see your wife clean your cloths with hardened water screams her and tell her please no, my precious clothes will destroy and become white and old, trust me if she loves you, she will not do that again.

So let us make a deal, Use Soft water for your indoor uses and purposes, I mean water free of insoluble salts of minerals, and use hard water for outdoor activities as car washing, gardening works with some treatments off-course,...etc
Hmmm, you make me crazy, I told you hard water is useless, no please be patient I did not completed, let me advice you. Ok...
Now You have a car, nice car by the way, ok let’s wash your car with this water full of hardness, trust me it will not hurts your nice car body anyway.

I heard you say, any useful thing can hard water used or I have to pour it in recycling Bin or to waste water well, hahaha, please do not do that… I will tell you a little secret from a specialized chemist, you could make money from the hard water, I am not kidding anyway, it is a chemists concerns, just PM me and I will put the secret chemical information between your hand’s fingers.

Testing and measurements of bottled and well water for hardness deposits:

One of the most important water quality tests is the testing water for Hardness both Temporary hardness and permanent hardness, as become obvious of health and appliance damage by hardness of water it is clear that hardness of water is the most contaminant must be tested and therefore must be treated, so let us dive into the real process of how to get your drinking water tested

How to test water for hardness as chemists recommends you to do? 
Hardness can be quantified by instrumental analysis. The total water hardness is the sum of the molar concentrations of Ca2+ and Mg2+, in mol/L or mmol/L units. there is a cheap solution to test water for hardness degree.

Test hardness of water with simple soap effect: measuring the grains of hardness (grains/gallon) with your simple soap by notice the weak soap bubbles and poor lathering which the simple detection method of hardness of well water and home drinking water, but id you asking how hard is my water? The answer Soap method will not tell you, you should utilize digital water meters to give you numerous determination of hardness of water.

Water hardness measured by any water testing labs which are chemical labs, which finally present you with the result of test as: how milligrams of calcium (Ca) per liter of water or the degree of hardness (dH) if the water sample is tested for tank and results accompanied by Langelier Saturation Index or LSI.
Many water meters out there can help you measure Hardness of water in less than a minute. More info. About water meters later… 

Buy water low-cost but quite effective water hardness tests from available water hardness test Kits, I will mention more and more about the best and cheap and most effective kits of various water hardness test kits available out there. 

Water test kits for hardness of water: One of the best kits you can buy to do this test is the Watersafe WS425W Well Water Test Kit. And a company called Splash Spas, which is the brand of these testing strips. It is a testing chemicals accompanied with drops come with the hard water test kit itself. They are reagents that react with the hard minerals in the water to give a color change which tells you how hard the water is. They are called DPD drops. There are also some great products that help with testing hard water such as the Watersafe WS425W Well Water Test Kit. Reports for water testing kits will be ready later…
water hardness test strips: more reportages about it later

My Final Tips to when searching for water free of hardness:
Bottled water has not enough characteristics as tap water especially in USA due to very strong regulation of tap water managed by the federal government. 

Only distilled water is the highest purified water due to its lowest content of salts, distilled water has 0.00 PPM salts.

Later I will add more information, Solutions, and products or equipments to help you get Soft water free of calcium deposits, please continue follow my guide, more is coming, and feel free to ask, or comment if you find something must to be commented.