Hard water solutions?
I recently moved to a place with harder water than I'm used to (more minerals). It tastes bad, it makes my detergents less effective, it forms soap scum everywhere, and it's definitely not good for my appliances. Does anyone have advice on how to deal with this in a cost-effective way?
I unfortunately can't install a point-of-entry water softener here. I can theoretically install point-of-use softeners for each of my appliances (bathroom sink, kitchen sink, dishwasher, washing machine, maybe shower), but the portable ones cost like $300+. I can't decide if it's worth the purchase. I also don't know enough about the different kinds or whether they're available in portable formats (reverse osmosis filtration, potassium chloride water softening, and sodium water softening; maybe others). Does anyone have recommendations?
I recently bought a showerhead with a better filter, which will probably help reduce skin irritation, but it can't actually remove calcium or magnesium. I can't visualize what a genuine point-of-use softener for a shower would even look like or how I would attach it to my showerhead, and I don't know where to get one that isn't just marketing fluff.
I have some CLR that I intend to use with my dishwasher, but I don't want to have to buy this stuff constantly (just another cleaning product in my cabinet). And I have a Brita for drinking water, but was thinking of getting an under-sink filter as I don't like waiting for it to refill; I have no idea how much to spend on this or which brands are best.
Happy to hear everyone's thoughts on household water management!
IMHO, beyond the need to do some occasional scale cleaning, most of the problems people have with hard water are psychological. The water doesn't taste bad, it just tastes different and it will take some time to get used to it. I noticed that you mentioned skin irritation but didnt' actually say that you were experiencing it - and if you are, are you sure it's being caused by the water and not by something else? A lot of people start getting ichy from stress. Generally speaking, the minerals in hard water tend to be good for you - there's a long tradition of bottling mineral waters for their health properties. The most common minerals you'll find in hard water are Calcium and Magnesium, and those are definitely good things to have.
Beyond that, water softeners don't actually remove minerals from the water. They replace them with sodium instead. Or if you buy a really nice system, it will use much more expensive potassium instead. Either way, you'll have to replace the salt continually for it to continue to work. In some cases, it may actually increase the amount of minerals in the water, which is why it's recommended to bypass any softener system you might have when you're filling a pool or spa.
If you absolutely must have a water softener, then you will save huge amounts of money if you do it yourself. I just looked at Home Depot's website and it looks like they start at less than $600.
I live in an area with off-the-scale (heh) water hardness. Like, dishwashers might list how to configure them up to a certain degree of hardness, and my water is harder still. I drink the water, no issues. Beyond that, I keep my dishwasher and washing machine healthy. The dish washer eats salt at a rate that would be suspicious elsewhere (I hear they don't use ion exchange resins stateside, if salt+dishwasher confuses you) but it's nothing crazy. The taste took a while to get used to though.
The scale deposits are horrible though, gotta say. We have a glass shower too. Can't go a week without that glass looking like shit, so I stopped trying.
Same in Brussels - your post could have been mine.
Water hardness here is ridiculous. But yes the only annoyance that comes with it is the scale deposits.
I live in an area that apparently has relatively hard water, but not exceptional. I have never experienced any of the issues you listed or anything else that should be attributed to water hardness. My parents house is plumbed for a water softener, but it has never been installed. For my drinking water, I do run it through a filter (no idea if this changes water hardness), but only because I have a convenient filter jug I can keep at refrigerator temperature. The filter has been saying it needs to be replaced for months now and I haven’t bothered. I even have the replacement since it came with a spare. I just don’t care.
I have had people ask me how I deal with the hard water here. I always say I have never noticed any issues.
Also about taste, my local tap water is some of the best tasting water ever. My work provides Fiji water since we are part of the same company. I drink that at work, but I honestly think it tastes slightly worse than my tap water. I also have no idea if Fiji water is hard or not.
I’m not sure if my post says anything valuable. Just another vote for the “maybe it doesn’t matter” camp.
Fun fact: if you're used to hard water, soft water will feel and taste really weird. In particular, you'll feel like you can't rinse all the soap off your hands after you wash them.
So yeah, I agree, this is mostly subjective. Unless your water is extremely hard, simple age will kill most appliances long before mineral deposits do. The deposits on sinks, bathtubs, and toilets are annoying but clean up with scouring powder or vinegar and a bit of elbow grease.
Fun pedantic fact: most water softeners are just columns full of ion-exchange resin. In certain cases (like mine), we do use resin which removes all other ions and replaces them with H+ and OH-. But it is very expensive, and only really justified by the need for high purity (chloride ions are extremely bad for aluminum).
We've got drastically hard water, around 170 mg/l hardness, but we're (mostly) managing it with both a point-of-entry salt softener and an ion-exchange system. This is essential because we've got a continuous-flow boiler for circulating hot water heating - scale can turn into $$$$ problems. However, as mentioned above, hard water is fine for drinking/cooking (though not good for coffeemakers), tastes great, and is healthier than sodium-softened water.
I understand you can't use a point of entry system, which is a PITA. I've dealt with hard water problems in rentals, and there are a number of products formulated for use in hard water - laundry detergents, body washes/shampoos, etc. I also had good luck with periodic use of a fancy salon shampoo designed to remove soap residue.
Most common household cleaning (glass, shower tiles, etc.) can be made much easier by daily use of cheap 5% white vinegar diluted to 1% in a spray bottle. It doesn't smell lovely, but it's non-toxic and dissolves mineral residue at about the rate you're laying it down. Run a cup or two of full-strength vinegar through the coffeemaker and dishwasher (not at the same time as soap) every couple of weeks.
Borax is a useful laundry additive as well.
I haven't used showerhead ion-exchange cartridges, but there's a review here. They're even more expensive than the last time I looked, so I wouldn't bother unless you have noticeable skin or hair issues after hard-water compatible soaps and lotions. Itchy, dry skin from mineralized soap residue (or use of excessive soap to compensate for little lather) is not psychological - I had eczema problems for years until I lived with soft water for a while.