If you notice white spots on your glassware, stains in your tub, and limescale in your appliances or plumbing, you might want to do a hardness test on your water. Hard water contains large amounts of dissolved natural minerals like calcium and magnesium. It’s not bad for your health, but it can cause plumbing problems, make washing up difficult, and be rough on your clothes, skin, and hair. Hard water doesn’t lather well, and it creates soap scum that sticks around, meaning you’ll often be using more soap to get less clean.
How to Assess the Water in Your Home
Households that get their water from a municipal water supply can request a copy of their latest water quality report or search for it online. These reports can give you a general idea of the water quality in your area, but they don’t necessarily tell you about the hardness level of the water coming out of your tap. If you have well water or you want to get a more specific reading of the actual hardness of your city water, you need to send a sample away for evaluation or test it at home.
When you send a sample of your water to an independent laboratory, you can get an extremely accurate report of your water hardness level. Unfortunately, these tests can be expensive and involve long wait times. For this reason, many people choose to purchase inexpensive over-the-counter test kits that deliver fast and accurate but less precise results.
How Different Measurement Scales Represent Water Hardness
If you’re testing your water at home, you’ll need to be able to understand and read one or more water hardness scales to properly interpret your test results. Water hardness scales use numerical values and standardized units to represent the concentration of calcium carbonate per unit of water. The findings are generally expressed in grains per gallon (gpg), parts per million (ppm), or milligrams per liter (mg/L). Ppm and mg/L measurements are equivalent, and they can be converted to readings in gpg. Here’s how each scale represents water hardness:
Grains per Gallon
- Soft water: less than 1 gpg
- Slightly hard water: 1 to 3.5 gpg
- Moderately hard water: 3.5 to 7 gpg
- Hard water: 7 to 10.5 gpg
- Very hard water: greater than 10.5 gpg
Parts per Million and Milligrams per Liter
- Soft water: less than 60 ppm or mg/L
- Medium hard water: 60 to 120 ppm or mg/L
- Hard water: 120 to 180 ppm or mg/L
- Very hard water: greater than 180 ppm or mg/L
To convert your ppm or mg/L findings to a gpg reading, divide the numerical result in ppm or mg/L by 17.1 to calculate the gpg equivalent. For instance, 125 mg/L or ppm would be 7.3 gpg, which is classified as hard water.
How to Use a Home Hard Water Test Kit
If you want to test your water hardness at home, you can get a test kit at a hardware or home improvement store or buy one online. Look for a kit offered by a well-known and reputable manufacturer, and make sure the kit is designed to test for water hardness.
Home testing kits can have slight differences in their design. Some provide a solution that you drip into the water to test the hardness level, but most testing kits use paper strips that you moisten and read when the indicator changes color. Common strip tests usually work as follows:
Collect a Sample of Water
First, turn on your tap and fill a clean glass or jar with water. If your kit includes a testing container, use it.
Moisten or Immerse the Test Strip
Put your test strip in the water as directed by the kit’s instructions. Usually, you’ll only leave the strip in the water for a few seconds at most.
Interpret the Result
Most test kits provide a chart that uses colors to describe different levels of water hardness. When you compare the color of your test strip to the colors on the chart, you can discover how hard your water is.
How to Treat Hard Water
If hard water is causing problems in your house or the tested levels are too high for your comfort, you can solve the issue by installing a home water softening system. Most of these systems are fitted just past the point where the main water line enters your home. Water softeners typically use sodium-based salts or potassium to remove or crystallize the calcium and magnesium in the water. If you prefer to drink hard water but wash with softened water, you can install a water softener near your water heater on the outgoing line.
Understanding your water usage can help you choose a water softening system that will meet your needs. You’ll get the best results if you work with a plumber or specialist to discuss the different water softener options on the market, so you can select the right model for your household.
Call Benjamin Franklin Plumbing to Treat Your Hard Water at Home
The more you know about the water hardness level in your house, the better equipped you will be to manage it. If hard water is affecting your quality of life, test its mineral content, then call the experts at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing to do something about it! Our dedicated plumbers will be happy to help you find a water softening system that perfectly meets your needs.