Effects of Hard Water

Laundering
Clothes washed in hard water often look dull, and feel harsh and scratchy. The minerals combine with some soils to form insoluble salts, making them difficult to remove. Soil on clothes can even introduce more hardness minerals into the wash water. Continuous laundering in hard water can damage fibers, shortening the life of clothes by up to 40%. In hard water, detergent performance is also reduced, and more detergent is required.

Washing Machines
Inside the washing machine, hard water leads to limescale build-up on the heating element. Over time, the increased build-up of limescale can cause the heating element to fail. Limescale build-up is also a poses a problem for drums, pipes and hoses. Leaky, corroded pipes and hoses can also result in the premature breakdown of your machine and can lead to flooding.

Did You Know? Limescale starts building up and damaging appliances from the very first use. In the UK, 1 in 10 irons sold is returned within 1 year. 65% of these are due to limescale damage.

Bathing
Bathing with soap in hard water leaves a film of sticky soap scum on the skin. This film may prevent removal of bacteria and soil. Soap scum interferes with the return of skin to its normal, slightly acid condition, and may lead to irritation. It may also make hair dull, lifeless, and difficult to manage.

Boiler Systems and Pipework
Hard water also leads to inefficient and costly operation of water-using appliances. Heated hard water forms a scale of calcium and magnesium minerals (limescale deposits) that can contribute to the inefficient operation or failure of such appliances. Pipes can become blocked with scale that reduces water flow, ultimately leading to pipe replacement. Limescale has been known to raise energy bills by up to 25%

Limescale in Solar Heating Systems
Solar heating, often used for heating swimming pools is prone to limescale build-up, which can lessen the efficiency of the electronic pump and consequently worsen the overall systems performance. A low cost solution to this problem is to install a magnetic water conditioner (such as Eddy) before the pump, which will prevent limescale build-up and, over time, remove existing limescale.