City water=hard water?

[Redcar GUY]

is city water hard water? I thought that hard water was water from a well? any help>?

[joed1228]

I always thought hard water was a term for unfiltered water (filtered but you know what I mean) and water that is used in the car wash, drained, run through minor filtering devices and re-used.

I don't know I guess I have a really good local coin operated car wash. In the winter he lets the guns run so they won't freeze. When it is cold, not freezing he turns the water to "hot". I put my hand in there and it's not boiling but it's pretty darn hot. If I let the water dry on my car I barely get any water spots....

Is this common or do I have a good guy running the car wash? It's just a pain because I need to drive 10 miles back to my house and by the time I get there I have a little dust on my car and I am scared to detail it with that stuff. I wonder to what extent a QD would help.

I don't think it is a matter of where the water is from, I just think it matters how cheap the guy is who's filtering it.

[fenrir]

Water that contains mineral salts of calcium and magnesium,
principally as bicarbonates, chlorides, and sulfates, and
sometimes iron. Hard water is the water you get out of wells. City water is treated so it won't contain these chemicals. Or atleast that's how i think it goes.

[JohnN]

Dunno if it works quite like that - I remember a friend of mine moving to a relatively large city (Tampa) and complaining that the water there was pretty hard. The water here in NYC is soft (go figure - you'd think the water here should be hard as a rock).

I think it depends on the municipality, and just how they treat their water.

[Guess My Name]

What John said it depends on the water system and the water they are working with.

Usually they do not remove the minerals unless they do not fall within EPA guidelines for drinking water.

AKA egg water or water with heavy concentrations of sulphur....yucky tasting stuff but perfectly legal.

Hey, joed, what coin-op car wash is this. I used to use Rojo's in norwood, but they suck.

[JayDub]

I know that here in Vegas, we have what is commonly referred to as "hard water." It comes from the tap, and leave lime deposits on our bathroom fixtures, leaves soap scum on our glass shower doors, and basically just doesn't rinse very clean.

I'm sure I could get a real nitty gritty definition from my dad, who works for the BOard of Water Works in colorado, but as far as I know, it's a reference to the amount of deposits that are in the water you consume and use via faucet, etc.

[Zab]

As fenrir said, hardness is a measure of the amount of dissolved calcium and magnesium in water. Water hardness varies throughout the United States. And Indiana is one of the states that generally has water that is classified as "very hard" (>180mg/l usually measured as calcuim carbanate).

Remember water has been called the "universal solvent." As rain falls in the atmosphere, it absorbs CO2 from the air to form carbonic acid (so much for "as pure as rain water"). In industural areas it also absorbs some nitrogen and sulfur compounds from the air to make other acids, TA DA - acid rain.

As rain water moves through the ground, it dissolves small amounts of minerals and holds them in solution. Calcium and magnesium dissolved in water are the two most common minerals that make water "hard." This is why hard water is prevalent in wells.

Hardness is not limited to gound water sources (wells), surface water sources can also be hard. A couple of days after it rains the water you see in streams and rivers is not from overland flow, its from groundwater recharge.

Hard water is not a health hazard. In fact, there are studies that state hard drinking water generally contributes a small amount toward total calcium and magnesium human dietary needs. So public supplies rarely treat for it.

If you are on a city water system, the water supplier can tell you the hardness level of the water they deliver. If you have private water, you can have the water tested for hardness. Most water testing laboratories offer hardness tests for a small fee.

JayDub describes the indications of hard water. If you have hard water, and want to get rid of it, the solution is a water softener of some type. Be sure to look into the various kinds of softeners as some increase alkalinity and this may damage skin and other materials, some form an insoluble precipitate with calcium and magnesium ions, but the precipitate makes water cloudy,and some introduce sodium which is a no-no for people on restricted diets and is not good for lawns, and gardens.

BTW: Remember I said CO2+water=carbonic acid. Your teeth are made of calcium and soda pop is water+CO2 . That's why it dissolves your tooth enamal