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Step 1
Look for clues that your water has an overabundance of minerals: Dishes will have water spots on them, your soap won't lather well, your white clothes will look dingy. You may also notice white, crusty sediment on your fixtures, a recurring bathtub ring, or rust-colored stains on your clothes, silverware, or porcelain fixtures. The not-so-obvious results of hard water are serious wear and tear on your water-dependent appliances.
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Step 2
Contact your municipal water supply, or local department of health to direct you to a lab that will test your water hardness.
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Step 3
Avoid home tests, which are expensive and have a tendency to be inaccurate.
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Step 4
Call a water conditioning company such as Culligan to come to your home and test the water. You may have to listen to the sales pitch for a water softener, but the test is free.
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Step 5
Look at your test results. If the water hardness is above 1 GPG (grains per gallon), your water is hard. (See Glossary)
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Step 6
Consider mechanically softening your water if the test reveals a hardness of more than 3 GPG.
Comments
Adamch89 said
on 11/20/2008 Before even putting in a water softener, you should consider whether it will even benefit your health vs the "hard" water. Long term studies reveal that by consuming soft water for a long duration of time, leads to an increased wrisk of cardiovascular disease.
I'm currently a molecular and microbiology student and from a recent lab I conducted, I found that (as stupid as this may sound) it would benefit you most to bathe, wash dishes, ect with soft water and leave hard water to drinking.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 People should know that your water is a very important thing. You just cannot put in a water softener and hope that it cures all your problems. It would be more advisable to have an expert look at your water and do the job right, and safely.