You’ve probably heard about hard water and the concerns it can present for a home. The term “hard water” is confusing for people unfamiliar with it, since often the only type of hard water they’re familiar with is ice. What hard water actually refers to is the mineral content of water, specifically levels of the minerals magnesium and calcium.
The hardness of water is measured as the amount of dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water. If a home’s water has 60 mg per liter of calcium or less, it’s considered soft. From 61 to 120 mg per liter is moderately hard, 121 to 180 mg per liter is hard, and more above 180 mg per liter is very hard.
Unfortunately, in Southern California, levels of hard to very hard are common for homes. For homes with this level of water hardness, we recommend installing a water softener in Oxnard, CA, which counteracts the hard water ions with sodium ions to soften it.