The Stuff in Your Water That Ruins More Than Just the Taste

Most people consider water quality when their glass is funky, smells like a pool, or tastes off. Yet what’s running through the tap is far more consequential than what’s in the glass in front of you. That water is running through your washing machine and coating your shower walls, eventually finding its way through every pipe in the house.

But we fail to make connections. Your washing machine bites the dust two years in? Guess it was a lemon. There’s white film on your shower door? Need to buy better cleaning products. Your kitchen faucet is crusted over after a couple months? Guess it’s just an ugly, outdated model.

Not quite.

What’s Really Running Through Your Pipes

Municipal treatment facilities do an excellent job of ensuring water is drinkable. No question about that. But “drinkable” and “ideal for your home” are two different concepts.

Chlorine ensures bacteria don’t spread between treatment and home, a public health accomplishment. But that means when it enters your home, it’s still chlorine; it’s still in the water you wash your hands with, the coffee you’re brewing, and the clothes you’re washing.

Then there are minerals — calcium and magnesium primarily. These won’t hurt you to drink (actually, they’re good for you), but they cause hard water. This happens when these dissolved solids accumulate on surfaces, within pipes, and on heating elements. From there, it becomes problematic.

Certain areas battle with iron, manganese, or even debris in pipes. You’ll know of iron because rust stains it onto surfaces. You’ll know manganese because it deposits black or brown stains.

The Appliance Death Sentence

For example, water heaters most significantly encounter hard water problems. Why? Because when water is heated, these dissolved solids come out of solution and form scale. They form scale on heating elements and at the bottoms of water heater tanks.

This scale accumulates and resides on these elements and bottoms until they start making the water heater work harder to heat the same amount of water. Like, forcing boiling water in a scaled pot takes longer than clearing one without debris. Most people don’t realize their water heater is fighting an uphill battle every day.

This is why some people explore whole house water filtration as an investment to preserve them before their appliances fail. Treating the inlet location ensures everything from the water heater to washing machine benefits from cleaner water.

The washing machine and dishwasher also have to contend with excess scale accumulation; more often than not, the heating elements inside acquire scale. Plus, hard water counters detergent effectiveness which means you need more soap and still face less-than-ideal results. Clothes come out dingy; dishes spot up; soaps run out.

Coffee makers, kettles, humidifiers — anything that requires water heating is on borrowed time in a hard water area. That crusty white stuff? That’s your appliance dying.

What It’s Doing in Your Bathroom

Your bathroom should tell you enough. Glass shower doors become that cloudy film that never completely dissipates no matter how much elbow grease you put into it. This is mineral deposition etched into the glass.

Showerheads get clogged; the holes that spray water accumulate mineral deposits until spray patterns look pathetic. You can soak them in vinegar; it may help temporarily; but those minerals always come back.

Faucets receive those obnoxious crusty white rings around their bases; aerators collect bits at their seams. Chrome finishes dull and get spotted. The grout between your tiles turns iffy-looking and breaks down faster than it should.

This is because we’ve conditioned ourselves to believe these things are stains you shouldn’t have on your fixtures; thus we do not clean well enough. But we don’t have poor housekeeping skills; we have poor interactions with chemistry.

The Skin and Hair Situation

Chlorine dries out your skin — that’s what it does. It does it whether you’re sensitive or not; everyone gets exposed to it at some point of daily bathing.

Hard water creates other problems in the shower as well; it’s not as effective at rinsing soap which means you’ll feel a bit sticky after finishing your lather up. Shampoo doesn’t suds nicely. Hair feels dry, looks frizzy as minerals coat each strand.

People spend copious amounts on moisturizers and hair products when the issue starts at the source: their water. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t; regardless, they’re merely treating symptoms, not causes.

The Hidden Plumbing Damage

And finally, beyond what’s visible is what’s happening inside your walls — over time, pipes build interiors with scale that you can’t see. The insides of pipes get narrower; this means decreased pressure throughout the house; increased restriction develops slowly enough that people fail to recognize its significance until they truly find themselves in trouble.

Accumulation occurs where a surface gets rough inside which increases likelihood for bacteria to cultivate/ leaks more likely to form because scale stresses pipe joints/ intersections.

Replacing pipes isn’t cheap. Most people don’t think of this type of preventive damage over time — but investing to prevent is always cheaper than replacing.

Doing Something About It

Another option exists, though — whole house systems target miniscule content that brings about hardness; point of use systems are effective for drinking but leave appliances out to dry (no pun intended). Some people use a combination solution based on their effectiveness alongside budgetary allowances.

The best solution comes from access into what’s in your water. A water test will help determine hardness levels, chlorination presence, any metals or additional products floating around. Without testing, you’re merely guessing.

What This All Costs You

This all adds up — higher energy bills because your electric heater works harder (or gas heaters require more consistent temperature). Appliances need replacing years sooner than they should; you’re constantly spending soap and cleaning products that only sort of work; plumbing repairs; skincare products; soaps; detergent for laundry/dishes which should not be needed.

It seems small on a monthly basis until it’s compounded by years spent living under these conditions.

Water quality costs aren’t free — neither is bad quality — it’s just determining if you’re going to pay for a solution up front or for bad results every time.

Making the Call

Not every household needs top level treatment for their water; someone who has moderately hard water with no major issues can survive with a basic softener or nothing at all. Someone who’s got heavy mineral content with appliance failures or low tolerance to chlorine — that’s a different story.

The transparency and honesty of what’s actually going on is crucial. Stains from fixtures regularly need crumbling; crusty stuff accumulates; appliances don’t last longer than a few months; dry skin after every shower — that’s not merely frustrating…

That’s symptomatic of issues related to water quality taking place in your home and budget.

Your water impacts far more than you think it does. It’s involved in every system, on every surface, through every appliance; when what’s coming through the tap has problems, those problems compound throughout the house. But when there’s proper mitigation efforts taken to treat what’s coming through from the start, everything gets along better with one another for longer.

That’s the difference between what’s safe to drink and what’s appropriately treatable for your home proper.