The answer to the question of how to test water hardness fixes the problem of hard water. The hardness is the level of calcium, minerals, magnesium, and other minerals in the water. All these hard minerals cause a lot of domestic and professional problems for people. To cure hard water, it is particularly essential to know how to test hard water? There are several ways that you can test water hardness. You can perform several tests using the domestic things while some of the tests you can’t perform at home to check the water hardness, rather you need to contact the laboratory.
Methods to Test Water Hardness
There are several methods to test water hardness, and we will discuss them one by one.
Test with Dish Soap
To test water hardness, you need to fix the area near the sink in your kitchen. Take a plastic bottle that has a cap. Add the fresh (350ML) water in the bottle from the tap, and don’t put a cap on it; leave the bottle for some time. If you don’t have a bottle, you can use glass for the experiment. As soon as the experiment gets over, you can use the glass, and it is not a waste.
To add this, after that, add 8-10 drops of dish soap in the water. Be careful don’t add above this ratio as you won’t get satisfactory results. You can use any liquid dish soap for testing purposes. Now cover the bottle with the cap and shake it well, so the ingredients get mixed nicely. After shaking, keep the bottle for few seconds.
Furthermore, it is time to examine the results. If you have a perfect layer of bubbles on the surface of the water, then it is soft water. The result is satisfactory, and you don’t need to test it further because you are lucky to have smooth water. The result will be clear because as you pour drops in the water there inside, you will find the layer of bubbles, so it means the water is soft. If the water has no bubbles on the surface or seems cloudy, then the water is hard to some extent.
Furthermore, it would help if you determined the level of hardness of your water. To check it, continue adding drops of soap to the bottle. Add almost 3-4 more drops. Now put cove over it and start to shake it. If still there is no layer of bubbles, continue adding the drops until you see the layer of bubbles. It means water has hard minerals, and they need extra soap to create bubbles. The problem with hard water is it consumes soap in large quantities.
Important note; Bear the point in mind that if you add 10-20 drops in the bottle and the bottle in the water has a layer of bubbles on it, then the water is soft. You don’t need to soften it further. If you add 20 or more than 20 drops of liquid soap, the water is hard, and you need to soften it. Otherwise, it will cause a lot of problems. If the layer builds up, taking 50 or more drops, then the water is extra hard, and it will cause makeup. Water hardness creates a lot of problems with your domestic appliances.
In addition to this, you can test of hardness level of water by trying the soap over your skin. When the soap comes in contact chemically with water, it prevents the soap from lathering. For instance, if you wash your face with hard water, the soap will stick to your skin, and you will not feel bubbles. It means water is hard.
Hard water Test #2 Hard Water Kit
A hard water kit is the second method to test hard water. The soap method is the best and easy method to determine the hardness level. But if you want to choose the hardness level in figures, then using a hard water kit is the best way. Purchasing the kit is not expensive. At a pretty reasonable price, you can get the kit from the store. The result of hardness level may differ from kit to kit. The kit has several test strips. These strips are for fresh tap water only. You will get the reading that will inform you about the hardness level of water.
Moreover, the process goes as, dip the colored side of the strip in freshwater for few seconds. After that, pull it out and shake to remove water drops over it. You can check whether your whole house water hardness level is the same by using various strips taking water from different taps.
You can check the results by matching the color of the strip end with that of color on the pack. As you get the same color, the chart will tell you how hard your water is. In other words, you can get the ppm of your water.
Hard Water Test#3: Conduct a visual Check
Furthermore, the easiest method of checking hard water is your observation. You can check the hardness of water from the things that come in contact with water like your body, hands, domestic appliances, the kitchen and bathroom floor, etc. If you find stains over the floor and your skin is getting dry, it is sure the water is hard. It would help if you softened it.
Hard Water Test #4 Laboratory Test
Moreover, you are lucky if you have a water hardness test facility in your city. You can send your water as a sample and get it tested to determine water hardness.
What to Do Next
What to do next when once you got the test of hard water. If you find that your water is hard, you need to make it pure as early as possible. Because it is essential for the health of you and your family. You need to install a water softener which may seem expensive to you at once. But never compromise over health. Do more research for the best water softeners and get them installed at home.
Recommended Reading: Best water Softeners salts
Read Also: How to Install Water Softener
Above all, installing a water softener will fix all your issues related to the maintenance of domestic appliances. The soft water will be very fruitful for your skin and hair as well. A water softener will soften the water and enhance the service life of your washing machines, coffeemakers, bathtubs and save your plumbing system from frequent maintenance.
Final Thought
Reading our guideline “how to Test Water Hardness,” you have realized various methods of testing the hard water. All the methods mentioned above present the perfect results to help you determine the hardness of the water. However, whatever the method you are adopting, you must adopt the safety measures to soften the hard water because it creates many problems.
Moreover, if you have suggestions, please let us know through the comments below.
I appreciate any help you can provide.