Hard water coming from your water supplier into taps to your business organisation costs more money and makes cleaning difficult. Hard water can severely damage the water heater, plumbing, and crockery. Businesses in the UK often confront excessive costs of plumbing repairs and appliance malfunction because of hard water. We explain what is hard water, before delving deeper into the effects of hard water.
What Is Hard Water?
Hard water contains mineral impurities. Tap water that contains traces of minerals like calcium, chlorine, magnesium, potassium, sodium, or sulphur is hard water. Drinking water or bottled water does not contain any minerals, because it is pure water healthy for drinking. Drinking water is simply the purest combination of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O) with no minerals, because minerals have a negative effect on the body’s health.
Water suppliers channel water from different sources before it reaches your tap. Pure water can absorb mineral impurities from superfluous rain water. Water treatment plants remove all the impurities in water before supplying it to consumers. Almost 40% of the water consumers in the UK live in areas with naturally occurring sweet water.
What’s Wrong With Hard Water?
Most adults have all taken calcium or magnesium supplements in their life. So what’s all the fuss about having some minerals in water? As any doctor will tell you, minerals do not mix well with water and can cause diarrhoea and other problems. The minerals combine with the basic constituents of water (hydrogen and oxygen) to become mineral deposits in our body or poison.
Constantly drinking hard water containing excessive minerals can lead to kidney stones and impaired blood circulation. The minerals in hard water make your skin feel dry and itchy right after you come out of the bath. Regularly washing hair with hard water will leave it feeling dry, uncouth, and difficult to manage. Dishes and utensils accumulate a layer of scum after washing crockery with hard water.
How Does Hard Water Affect Plumbing?
Trying to lather soap on your hands with hard water will leave your hands feeling abrasive, gritty, and waxy. The minerals in the hard water make it difficult for the soap to dissolve in the water. Hard water contains minerals that deposit in the corners of pipes and at any intersection of two pipes. The mineral deposits become clearly obvious on the plumbing of the water heater.
The temperature changes present at a water heater speed up the process of mineral deposition. Your water heater or boiler might need a replacement earlier than expected. Extended exposure to hard water makes the pipes running through the walls brittle. There will be a higher likelihood of leaks or water seepage. You should use PEX tubing or stainless steel tubing that is sealed to prevent your pipes from being damaged by hard water.
How To Overcome Hard Water Problems?
Find out who is your water supplier and ask them how they ensure consumers get a clean water supply. Do they have water treatment plants to ensure a clean water supply? Businesses that do not receive a clean water supply incur heavy costs they can easily avoid by switching water suppliers. Consider switching to a different business water provider if your current water provider cannot provide you with sweet water.
