Water with high levels of calcium and magnesium is termed “hard water”. Groundwater
is usually hard water since it contains dissolved minerals from the soil and rock it passes through
before reaching your well. Hard water poses problems to home appliances and household
chores. The calcium and magnesium in the water deposit and form scale in household plumbing
and appliances. As well, the minerals in the hard water reduce the effectiveness of household
soaps and detergents. As a result, more cleansing product is needed, scum is formed from the
reaction of soap with calcium and magnesium, and clothing that goes through the laundry loses
some of its brightness to the scum.
To solve the problems caused by hard water, water softeners are often used. Most of
these use some form of salt. Water softeners remove calcium and magnesium from the water by
ion exchange with sodium. Sodium chloride, or table salt, is added to the water softener to
provide the source of sodium ions.

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Water with high levels of calcium and magnesium is termed “hard water”. Groundwater is usually hard water since it contains dissolved minerals from the soil and rock it passes through before reaching your well. Hard water poses problems to home appliances and household chores. The calcium and magnesium in the water deposit and form scale in household plumbing and appliances. As well, the minerals in the hard water reduce the effectiveness of household soaps and detergents. As a result, more cleansing product is needed, scum is formed from the reaction of soap with calcium and magnesium, and clothing that goes through the laundry loses some of its brightness to the scum.

To solve the problems caused by hard water, water softeners are often used. Most of these use some form of salt. Water softeners remove calcium and magnesium from the water by ion exchange with sodium. Sodium chloride, or table salt, is added to the water softener to provide the source of sodium ions. Check out water softeners for more info …