6 Bathroom Problems Hard Water Causes and How to Fix Each One

6 steps · by Homeknacks Editorial

Hard water carries dissolved calcium and magnesium picked up from chalk and limestone. When it evaporates or is heated, those minerals come out of solution and stick to whatever they were sitting on. That single mechanism explains almost every recurring bathroom complaint in a hard-water area.

Much of the southern and eastern UK, large parts of the US Midwest and Southwest, and southern Ontario all sit on hard or very hard water. Check your supplier’s website for your figure — anything above about 200 ppm or 12 grains per gallon makes everything below relevant to you. The fixes are cheap; the mistake is treating the symptoms with general cleaners that cannot touch mineral deposits.

1. 1. Limescale on taps, spouts and around the plughole
2. 2. A cloudy, permanently smeared shower screen
3. 3. A shower that has lost its pressure
4. 4. Grey grout, black silicone and the mould that keeps coming back
5. 5. Soap scum on the bath, tray and tiles
6. 6. Dull hair, dry skin, stiff towels — and whether a softener is worth it

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