Water hardness and ways to eliminate it

Quite specific concepts of "hard" and "soft" water in everyday life can be treated differently. For example, water can be mistakenly called soft, having in mind its taste and other qualities, while the amount of salts in it, which determines the hardness of water, can be very considerable. This is not a subjective characteristic, but has precise values. Water is considered to be stiff with calcium salts, as well as magnesium, in excess of 6 meq / l. This is a unit of measurement, uniform in all countries, but along with it, degrees of rigidity are used, the values of which in different states will be different. So, in the literature there are data in German, American and other degrees of rigidity. Why do you need to know this indicator?

Rigidity of water has a direct effect on the condition of washing machines and dishwashers, the quality of washing and the color of the laundry after it. The amount of detergents you use is required to be increased, sometimes - twice. From the excess of calcium and magnesium salts, the form and technical condition of the bathroom suffers: tiles, mixers and, of course, sanitary ware. Salt deposits cover the pipes from the inside. In private homes, this can lead to a rapid failure of the entire water supply system. From the hard water deteriorates the skin, pores are clogged; It is not suitable for keeping fish. The question of its impact on our health remains open.

How to determine the hardness of water? Visually - on rapidly forming scale on the walls of the kettle, a dull coating on the sink, even with its regular cleaning; For badly soapy soap when washing hands. Water with a high content of salts of these metals can be recognized and taste; Tea in it is brewed longer, the time of preparation of many products also increases. The red color of the scum also indicates that there is a lot of iron in the water, which means that cleaning it will not hurt.

You can find out the hardness of water in public services, at water treatment plants. There are also laboratories conducting a detailed analysis of water. Also used are special tests, popular with aquarists. What will it give you? You will find out whether you need to adjust the cooking time of products, apply water softening in washing machines and dishwashers, and can take measures for additional cleaning. It should be noted that most of the tests reveal only the general hardness of water, not taking into account the rigidity of the constant and temporary. Most household and industrial filters are also designed to combat the stiffness of the total.

Water hardness and ways to eliminate it

Ordinary boiling can eliminate the calcium bicarbonate contained in the water , that is, the temporary hardness. However, the so-called "constant water hardness" will remain. It softens the tap water and the addition of baking soda. Ion-exchange filters, which act according to the cationing principle , are often used in industry. For small volumes of water, the distillation method is also suitable.

In everyday life, this problem is solved with the help of filters of different classes. On removable modules, whether modules for the filter-jug or cartridge filter, their purpose is indicated. Many of them are designed to eliminate the hardness of water, although, as a rule, they are primarily used to purify it of chlorine, iron impurities and other metals. Among the most popular domestic producers can be called "Aquaphor", "Geyser". The choice of filters is quite wide, which is why it is not bad to know the chemical composition of the water coming from your water pipe. Using suitable filters, in addition to a more pure taste of food and drinks, you will get very tangible health benefits. Special filters are also used in the form of attachments for the tap / shower. True, this will not solve the problem of increased dryness of the skin and intensive scale formation in washing machines and pipes. Here you can only fight the investigation through intensive use of caregivers and detergents. A better, but more costly solution will be the installation of a more powerful cleaning system, for example, a main filter in an apartment (Honeywell, Aquafilter) or an automatic softener in a country house (for example, EcoWater).