How to Test for Hard Water
Testing For Hard Water is Easy!
Hard water contains hard minerals, or hardness crystals, that can dry out your hair and skin, cause your soft towels to fall flat and become scratchy, and even latch onto your dishes causing water spots. It can also cause calcium and limestone buildups on your appliances and within your plumbing, leading to clogs and low water pressure. Hard water not only affects humans, but can also be bad for your pets too! While local municipalities are required to provide homeowners and businesses with running water that meets federal standards, there’s a good chance that those standards might not be up to par for you personally. Many water distribution systems have been proven to deliver hard water — water high in minerals. In fact, hard water issues are so common that they persist in 85% of homes nationwide. That’s precisely why we take water testing and analysis so seriously, using only the best and most accurate methods for proven results.
The Professional Titration Test
Using a method called titration, we add chemicals to the initial water sample that gives it a distinct color. From there, we add drops of an additional chemical one by one until the color changes again. The number of drops it takes for the color to change measures the waters grains of hardness — with anything more than 1 grain being categorized as hard.
While the titration test is the most chemically sound, there are a number of DIY friendly ways to test your water at home as well. Here are two of the most common.:
The DIY Soap Test
Have you heard about “the hard water bubble test?” It’s only the easiest way to test for hard water in your home from a DIY standpoint! In fact, the only thing easier than performing your own hard water bubble test is calling in the experts instead of doing it yourself — which we recommend doing after the fact anyway, just to be on the safe side.
Simply fill ⅓ of a clean water bottle with a water sample. Then, add a few drops of basic, uncolored soap — Castile works best. Shake it up and observe! If your water is clear with fluffy bubbles filling the top of the bottle, your water is soft. However, if bubbles are minimal and the water appears cloudy, hard water issues are present.
The DIY Tea Test
If you thought the soap test was easy, the tea test will blow your mind! Simply make a cup of tea, as usual, allow it to steep, and take a look. Soft water will produce a clear, crisp cup of tea, while hard water will produce a muddied, dull cup. And again, while we always suggest a professional opinion, this DIY method really is that easy!
So, what’s in your water? If you’re not sure, the time to sign up for a complimentary water analysis from Aquarius Water Conditioning is now! Simply contact us online or give us a call at 888-741-9025 to request your FREE water test today.
