Water hardness

The water hardness indicates how hard the water is. This means that the higher the water hardness, the higher the calcium and magnesium content. High water hardness can lead to unpleasant effects in the home, such as high levels of limescale. How do you know if you have soft or hard water? You can usually tell quickly in the home whether the tap water is soft and therefore free of limescale or whether it is hard and contains limescale. If you want to find out your water hardness, you can ask your water supplier directly, look online at wasserhaerte.net or measure the water hardness.

Water hardness ranges

Water hardness is divided into three areas.

• Soft: water hardness less than 8.4° dH
• Medium: water hardness between 8.5 and 14.6° dH
• Hard: water hardness greater than 14.6° dH

What is the significance of water hardness?

In the home, water hardness is often important in areas where technical devices are used. For example, the dishwasher must be set to the correct water hardness range. When washing, the amount of detergent should be adjusted to the water hardness. Fully automatic coffee machines use the lime content in the water to indicate when descaling should be carried out. In the bathroom, depending on the lime content in the water, more or less limescale deposits will form, which must be removed regularly so that the fittings are not affected. In many areas with hard water, shower heads or aerators on fittings in particular are changed frequently.

Hard water – what to do?

Hard water has unpleasant side effects in the home, some of which are clearly noticeable. Ugly limescale deposits build up on fittings and appliances, which can only be removed by vigorous cleaning and descaling. Over time, limescale can even destroy appliances. In addition, significantly more detergent, cleaning products and descaling agents must be used with hard water than with soft water. Fortunately, those who have hard tap water do not have to put up with this. With an Alfiltra water softener, the water hardness can be reduced to a desired level. It is even possible to set the water softener so that there is no limescale left in the water. Water softeners work with what is known as ion exchange . Ion exchange is a water softening process that has proven itself for decades.