What exactly is hard water and how do you get rid of it? Learn about the revealing facts about hard water and why it could be a problem in your area. And find out what exactly what you can do about it.

If you’ve ever dealt with it, you know that hard water sucks. It crusts up your faucets, makes your dishes look like they’re never clean and does a number on your hair. So how should we deal with this junk?

Eighty-five percent of American homes have hard water according to HomeWater 101, and if you live in Indianapolis, Vegas, Minneapolis, Phoenix, San Antonio or Tampa — well, you pretty much have the hardest water out there. But we did a little digging and found that there are things you can do to combat the effects of hard water — even without a softener.

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What is hard water?

According to the United States Geological Survey, the short answer is water hardness is the amount of dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water — hard water is high in both calcium and magnesium. The reason you can feel the difference on your skin is because in hard water, soap reacts with the calcium (which is relatively high in hard water) to form soap scum — which is why you need more soap or detergent to get things clean. And that’s where the term “hardness” came from. It was originally applied to waters that were hard to wash in and referred to the soap-wasting properties of hard water according to the Water Quality Association.

Read more:  http://www.sheknows.com/home-and-gardening/articles/809742/hard-water-facts-and-solutions