A Guide to Understanding the Effects of Hard Water on Your Skin

When you develop problems with your skin and hair, people typically consider that their skincare products are a possible reason for that. Did you know that the water you use can significantly impact your skin’s health as well?

If you feel that your skin has been dry, itchy, or irritated and your hair is frizzy on a usual basis, you could be suffering from the harmful effects of hard water on your skin and hair.

Many people already know about the effects of hard water on their plumbing and household appliances. If there is a hard water problem at home, you might have even noticed soap scum – the product of minerals in the water reacting with the soap to create an unsightly and difficult-to-clean mess. Limescale is another common problem associated with hard water. The mineral deposits from your home’s water supply can accumulate on fixtures and gradually clog up the plumbing.

Like the impact hard water has on your household appliances and plumbing, it can also impact your body by causing several skin problems. These minerals can dry out your skin barrier, clog the pores, irritate sensitive skin, and even result in major acne flare-ups.

In this post, we will guide you to help you understand the effects of hard water on your skin and what you can do to resolve the problem.

Understanding Hard Water

If you are unaware of what hard water is, you should know that water with high mineral content is called hard water. Calcium and magnesium are the two most abundant minerals found in water, but they can contain other minerals and metals like iron and manganese.

Hard water typically forms when your water supply passes through soil rich in these minerals before it reaches you. Water dissolves a significant portion of these minerals while passing through limestone and chalky soil.

How Can You Tell If You Have A Hard Water Problem

The best way to accurately tell how bad a hard water problem you have is to test it using a testing kit. These tests can tell you water hardness levels by telling you how many grains of minerals are there per gallon (GPG). Soft water is classified as 1 GPG, and hard water is when the levels go above 1 GPG.

Another way to tell whether you have a hard water problem is to check the water quality report that should be available with your local municipal water supplier. You can get an in-depth report on the local water supply quality, including the hardness levels and minerals the water contains.

Perhaps the easiest way to tell that you are dealing with a hard water problem is to look for the signs. One of the signs is how hard water affects your skin.

Common Skin Problems Caused by Hard Water

If you live in an area with hard water, you might already be aware of these skin issues because you use hard water daily. Here are some of the most common skin problems caused by hard water.

Dry Skin

Similar to how hard water can leave mineral deposits in water fixtures, it leaves these minerals behind on your skin. Calcium bicarbonate is not a toxic mineral, but it can be harmful because they absorb your skin’s moisture. You might experience dry skin that is difficult to moisturize properly.

The calcium deposits left on your skin upset the natural oil levels responsible for keeping your skin moisturized and healthy. Once your skin becomes dry, it can lead to further problems.

Irritation

Another way hard water causes problems is by reacting with your soap to form soap scum. This makes it difficult to clean the soap residue from your skin completely, causing irritation and increased dryness long after you have left the water.

Clogged Pores

The soap scum in the hard water does more than increasing skin dryness and causing irritation. When the soap scum builds up on your skin, the residue left behind begins clogging up the pores in your skin. These clogged pores lead to breakouts of acne and other problems.

Risk of Eczema

Because hard water damages the skin barrier created by natural oils, it can lead to the development of eczema. People with existing skin problems like acne and eczema may even see their problems become far worse due to hard water.

How to Solve Your Hard Water Problem

Water is an essential part of our lives, it is critical for our survival, and we use it every day to stay hydrated, clean, cook our food, and much more. If your area has a hard water problem, you expose your household to the potential damage that hard water can cause. More importantly, we hope you understand the importance of getting rid of hard water by understanding the harmful effects it can have on your skin.

Fortunately, investing in a high-quality water treatment system can help you out. At Shell Water Systems, you can get the best whole house filter for hard water to ensure that the hard water in your municipal supply doesn’t cause you any skin problems or damage your plumbing and household appliances.