You’ve likely heard the terms soft water and hard water before, but you may not fully understand the differences between the two. In this article, we’ll explain what soft water is and why it’s important to your overall health.

Read on to learn more.

Soft Water Vs Hard Water

To understand why soft water is so beneficial (and preferred), it’s best, to begin with an explanation of how it compares to its less beneficial counterpart.

Soft water is essentially water that is free from a certain amount of the dissolved mineral content of calcium and magnesium. More specifically, water that has less than 17 parts per million (PPM) of dissolved minerals and other solids is considered soft.

You’ll find that soft water originates from rainfall. In its purest form, soft water is the closest you can get to naturally distilled water. The only difference is that unlike the distilled water you can buy in stores, this naturally occurring water will have trace concentrations of dissolved solids.

Hard water, on the other hand, is water with higher concentrations of dissolved mineral content. Hard water levels vary from slightly hard to very hard, running between 17 - 60 PPM to over 180 PPM. The harder the water, the greater the presence of other minerals and heavy metals, including manganese and iron.

Hard water also originates from rainfall. Of course, that rainfall eventually trickles down the land and into our rivers and groundwater, where it makes its way into our municipal water systems. Along the way, it picks up more minerals, other solids, and chemicals, bacteria, and pollutants from factory and agricultural runoff.

This is typically why you’ll find that the best naturally occurring soft water can be found in the higher mountain regions.

Why Hard Water Needs to be Replaced with Soft Water

The presence of high mineral concentrations and other dissolved solids doesn’t just make your water taste funny. It also risks your health and wreaks havoc on your skin, hair, pipes, clothes, and everything else it comes into contact with.

Having said that, here are eight reasons why you should start prioritizing soft water — especially if you’re looking into non-toxic living:

1. It’s Better For Your Hair, Skin, and Nails

Due to having a lower concentration of dissolved minerals and solids, soft water is the best option for bathing and washing hands. This is because it’s much purer, whereas hard water contains all contaminants.

For example, if you have hard water coming through your pipes, you may notice that your hair is dry and brittle as are your nails. The same goes for your skin. Your skin may be prone to dryness or cracking — or worse, you may develop eczema or have to contend with acne breakouts.

That’s the work of dissolved solids leaving a film on your body, sucking out the moisture and causing irritation. Soft water won’t do this. In fact, soft water will allow your products to work more efficiently because it’ll actually clean and hydrate your skin as water is meant to.

The best way to achieve this is by adding a shower filter to your showers. Super easy to install and will filter your water through a 5 stage system!

2. Soft Water helps the Longevity of Your Appliances

As hard water passes through your pipes and appliances, it will leave some of its dissolved solid content behind. This eventually causes a mineral buildup, which leads to pipes and parts wearing down, weakening, and breaking well before their anticipates expiration date.

No appliance that uses hard water is safe, and just think about how expensive your washing machine, water heater, dishwater, etc are to fix or replace.

3. It’ll Enhance Your Food and Beverages

When you’re cooking or baking with hard water, you’re not accounting for all those extra dissolved solids. They tend to interfere with each recipe's specific ingredients, dulling down the taste or altering the texture.

Soft water, however, not only functions as it should in certain recipes but also enhances the flavor of foods and beverages. For example, It can give your coffee and tea a cleaner taste and ensure that your produce stays fresh longer.

 The Reverse Osmosis System will filter out 99.9% of contaminants. 

4. It Increases the Efficiency of Your Cleaning Products

Can’t get your sink, faucets, or tub free of water spots? That’s because the dissolved minerals in your hard water are causing limescale. So, even after you’ve used the best products to scrub everything clean, as you rinse, more minerals will be left behind to taunt you.

The same goes for your other surfaces and items like glassware, dishes, and even your clothing. If you’re cleaning with hard water, the mineral content will render your products less effective. On the other hand, soft water helps your cleaning products work more effectively as it helps to distribute the products and rinse them as intended — without the dissolved solids getting in the way.

5. It Can Help Lower Your Energy Costs

By switching to soft water, you should see a significant reduction in your water bills. The reason is, you won’t have to heat water at higher temperatures to clean your household items effectively.

This also means you won’t have to use as much water. That’s less time spent cleaning and less wasted water, in addition to lower energy bills.

6. Soft Water is Healthier For Your Plants and Pets

Being pure, soft water is much healthier for the other living beings in your home, such as your plants and pets. Soft water can improve your plants vitality and growth, whereas hard water can introduce unwanted minerals and bacteria that can slowly kill even the heartiest of plants.

It’s also important to keep in mind that our furry friends have a different physiological and biological makeup than we do. Their bodies aren’t equipped to handle large amounts of dissolved minerals just like they’re not equipped to handle a lot of the foods that we as humans love. Soft water will keep them be happier and healthier for longer.

7. It’s Much Better For the Environment

Generally speaking, soft water reduces the need for large amounts of detergents and other cleaning products. Therefore, there are less chemical-latent products being washed and flushed down the drain. (Bonus points if you already use environmentally friendly products).

In turn, the water that finds its way back into the various ecosystems in your area will be less affected.

8. It Tastes Better

Think about the last time you drank your tap water. Were there any weird odors or flavors that weren’t exactly water-like? Tap water, in general, isn’t great tasting. But hard tap water is even worse.

Soft water has a clean, and fresh taste — as water should. When your home’s water is better tasting, you’ll be less likely to opt for bottled water, which will greatly contribute to your health and reduce plastic waste.

Start Your Non-Toxic Living Journey Today

In the end, soft water is just much better for your health and the health of your plants, pets, appliances, and the environment. Not to mention, it tastes better and plays well with other products and ingredients. 

If you don’t live in an area with soft water or are hesitant to drink from your tap don’t worry — we have the solution. Visit us today to learn more about our water filtration systems that soften your water and filter out other unwanted contaminants to bring you the cleanest and healthiest water possible.