General Hardness- Part2
From a homeowner’s perspective, very hard water leaves a residue on silverware, glassware, and appliances; deposits in pipes and faucets; and can make it hard for soap to do its job in laundry. Many people in areas with very hard water install whole house water softeners. These devices typically replace calcium carbonate in the tap water with sodium chloride, although a few units use potassium chloride instead.
The problem with replacing one molecule with a different one is that although the amount of calcium and magnesium may go down, the amount of sodium goes up by the same amount. Many plants can’t tolerate much sodium in the water, and fish that do better in soft water will have no easier time in sodium-filled water than they would in water with high levels of calcium. What is...
