Water Filters: Hard Water Woes

Laura at CenterDownHome asked if I'd ever looked into water filters, which, given my level of obsession with the water I drink, is a fair question. I have been carrying a Brita pitcher since I was fifteen. Early neurotic adopter, much? I'll have to confess that I have thought long and hard about the quality of our wawa. Filters included. This post? Will focus on filters that might help Laura.

Like the folks here in the nation's capitol, Laura's got hard water. Hard water can be hard, my friend. I so feel your pain. Hard water can make all of your eco-friendly dishwasher and laundry soap efforts seem like trading in your Lexus for a donkey. Spots on your glasses, dingy whites. It's all worth it, obviously, but it can be kind of annoying. Like belonging to the one lawn in your proximity-to-a-golfcourse-astroturf-levels-of-green neighborhood riddled with giant patches of crabgrass and a methodical man wielding a shooter of nontoxic weedkiller and a trowel? That kind of worth it (and exactly that kind of skull-splittingly wrong yet so right).

Hard water can make your soap work against you. Although there are no health risks associated with having high levels of calcium and magnesium in your water (also known as having "hard water") it can make daily chores even less rewarding. In a nutshell, hard water can cause scale (spotting) and soap scum. It can make it harder to wash your dishes and clothes, and make everything dingy. An additional bonus is that removing the soap scum can be hard on your clothes. Yes, your hard-earned dollars will fly out of your hands faster! There are a couple of solutions out there but nothing's perfect (which is why we don't bother to deal with it here at Casa Bird -- aside from our being horribly lazy, that is -- we just use detergents instead of soap when we can, and use vinegar to deal with soap scum in the bathrooms).

Here are some great links (dontcha love the way blogging is like a virtual file cabinet?!):

The Green Guide's categorical explanations of various types of water filters.

NRDC's guide to water filters (their tap water report is worth checking out to see how your water ranks in the first place).

Here's an explanation of how a water softener works.

Here's Virginia Tech's guide to household water treatment.

Here's a site put together by a guy who was frustrated about the lack of info about hard water online.

In searching for info on hard water, I came across a bunch of commercial sites that seem to have solid (heh heh) information about hard water. I can't vouch for them 'cause, well, they are trying to sell filters and softeners, and I'm usually mistrustful of those with a dog in the fight. But there's some good info on a few of the sites so here goes:

LennTech's info about calcium and water and water softener FAQS.

FilterWaterDirect's info about calcium in water.

Laura also wanted to know if I'd heard of these ceramic water filters. I hadn't. But the Green Guide notes that they are usually used with another filtration method. Not sure why?

Ceramic: Ceramic filters, often combined with carbon filters, will remove bacteria, parasites, asbestos and sediments. As water passes through the pores of the ceramic, particles as small as .2 microns are trapped. When the water flow is reduced, the filter requires a light scrub under running water. Ceramic filters are available in both counter-top and under the counter models, and are often combined with another filtration method.

In addition, the Green Guide cautions those with well water (which Laura's got) to do the following:

If your water source is a private well, check with your local health department to find out which contaminants are common where you live. The EPA recommends that you have it tested annually by a state-certified lab for nitrate and coliform bacteria, total dissolved solids and pH levels. Also, test for radon if that's a problem in your area (call 800-SOS-RADON to see if it's an issue) and for pesticides, if you live near a farm where crops are sprayed frequently. National Testing Labs can test for 95 contaminants, including 20 pesticides, by mail (www.ntllabs.com, 800-458-3330). For more information, call the Water Systems Council hotline (www.wellcarehotline.org, 888-395-1033).

Finally, my personal take on the matter: distillation and reverse osmosis will remove the calcium/soften your water, but reverse osmosis in particular is costly to do whole-house, slow, and creates colossal amounts of waste water. It's energy intensive and basically an eco-nightmare. So, what should Laura do? Perhaps get a water softener and a carbon aka Brita-type filter. If they start accepting their filters for recycling.

In general, if you have hard water and you're not going to get a water softener, vinegar's your antidote. It's great for removing soap scum, and some claim that throwing 3/4 cup into the dishwasher before running it helps with the cleaning action. Either way, don't worry about the health hazards of calcium and magnesium. It's the pharma and the hormones in our water that our legislators need to deal with, since current water treatment regulations don't address their removal.



*Photo by vicbuster at sxc.