Is Water Hard or Soft in My Area?

One of the subjects that comes up a lot around here is Hard Water. The most common question is: How do I know if my water is hard or soft?

The answer is: Unless you live in Boston, Seattle, Hawaii, or Alabama, you most likely have hard water. See, in the good ‘ol USA, water hardness is measured in Grains per Gallon (gpg) as defined as 1 grain (64.8 mg) of calcium carbonate per U.S. gallon (3.79 liters) of water, or 17.118 ppm. Check with your local water provider to find out if you have hard water in your region. They usually do an annual report and you can get a copy of it, if you didn’t already get one in the mail.

Characteristics of Hard Water

Hard water resists foaming, so usually cleaning compound manufacturers add heaps of a foaming agent called Sodium Laureth Sulfate. It makes a lot of bubbles, but be forewarned: it combines with the calcium to create deposits that stains anything it touches: windows, tiles, spas, showers, etc. These deposits, called “scale,” are composed mainly of calcium carbonate, magnesium hydroxide, and calcium sulfate. The problem gets even worse when you add detergents (aka surfactants), as the positive calcium ions (present in hard water) mix with the detergent to create a film of soap scum instead of lather. Now add the residue from the sodium laureth sulfate and it makes a kind of ‘cement’ that’s really hard to remove.

Water Hardness or Softness in the USA

These deposits, called “scale,” are composed mainly of calcium carbonate, magnesium hydroxide, and calcium sulfate.

More than 85% of American homes have hard water. The softest waters occur in parts of New England, South Atlantic-Gulf, Pacific Northwest, and Hawaii regions. Moderately hard waters are common in many of the rivers of the Tennessee, Great Lakes, and Alaska regions. Hard and very hard waters are found in some of the streams in most of the regions throughout the country. The hardest waters (greater than 1,000 ppm) are in streams in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Arizona, and southern California.

How do I remove hard water stains from glass?

The first step is to remove the actual stains using A-1 Hard Water Stain Remover. It’s non-acid so you don’t have to worry about getting it on anything and it won’t leave a residue. It works by breaking the calcium bond. We designed A-1 Hardwater Stain Remover to break apart the bonds that hold these stains together. A-1 restores glass, tile, natural stones, shower doors, mirrors, and metals. Our no-acid formula makes it safe for any surface.  Try it and you’ll be impressed.

The second step is to avoid these stains to begin with. For that we can confidently suggest Glass Gleam-4. Glass Gleam-4 has polymeric water softeners for use in hard water. Glass Gleam-4 Glass Cleaner Concentrate is the newer companion product to the well-known Glass Gleam-3. Most window cleaners want different features, but most of them will agree that a water softener would help. In many parts of the country where the water is “hard” this product is essential. You have to trade ‘visibility’ (bubbles on the pane) for quality, but it’s worth it.

Q: What is hard water?

A: Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with “soft water”). Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone and chalk which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates.

Tap Water

Tap water is generally considered “hard’ if the calcium or magnesium content is over 5 grains per gallon (gpg). If your water has over 10 gpg, it is considered very hard, and over 14 gpg extremely hard. Some hardness is usually present — even Less than 3 gpg is classified as “slightly hard” by the Water Quality Association of America. The water-softening feature of GG-4 is important, providing water treatment similar to softened or de-ionized water without additional expense or effort.

Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with “soft water”). Hard water is often indicated by a lack of suds formation when soap is agitated in water. Wherever water hardness is a concern, water softening is commonly used to reduce hard water’s adverse effects.

As always, if you’d like more information, please email us at info@titanlabs.net – or give us a call at 800-475-3300 ext. 3.

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