How Shower Filters Help With Hard Water


Shower filters were originally designed to just remove bad smells from water. However, some more modern shower filters can now remove calcium, magnesium, and other minerals that make water hard.

Hard water is common across the United States. In fact, according to the U.S Geological Survey, most of us live in areas that use natural water sources containing hard water for our drinking water.

In this article, we look at what hard water is, its disadvantages, and the benefits of having a shower filter that can remove the minerals that make water hard. We also recommend some shower filters that can help reduce the hardness of your water.

What is Hard Water, really?

Hard water is a term used to describe water that contains a large amount of dissolved minerals. Magnesium and calcium are the minerals that make up most of the ‘hardness’ in water.

It’s difficult to tell how many minerals are dissolved in water without a lab test. But you don’t always need to wait until you get a lab test to know if your water is hard or not.

You can usually tell by the effect of hard water after you wash your hands.

When you use hard water to wash your hands with soap, you can often feel a slippery film on your hands. Almost as if there was still soap left over on your palms.

This happens because soap reacts with the calcium in hard water, forming what is known as “soap scum” which feels slippery. 

Limescale (white) deposits on faucets or sinks are also common.

Water Purification Guide has more information on how to know if you have hard water available here.

How Shower Filters Help with Hard Water

Shower Filters

While some shower filters can reduce the concentration of minerals like calcium and magnesium found in hard water, they may not entirely eliminate these hardness minerals due to their small size and limited capacity.

Shower filters designed to address hard water issues often employ a combination of filtration methods, such as sand filtration, redox, activated carbon, and various filtration technologies. These approaches work together to mitigate the impact of hard water and provide a more enjoyable shower experience.

Water Softening

If you’re dealing with a hard water problem, you might need a dedicated water-softening filter. Most standard shower filters are primarily designed to remove impurities like chlorine, chloramines, heavy metals, and certain chemicals. They generally do not address the hardness of the water itself.

Ion Exchange

To effectively remove the minerals responsible for water hardness, water filters or water softeners employ a process known as ion exchange. In this process, hard water flows through a specially designed resin with a high sodium (or similar) content. As it passes through the resin, the hardness minerals bond to the resin, and sodium ions take their place, effectively softening the water.

Ion exchange is not commonly integrated into shower filters because of their limited size, which restricts the necessary contact between the hard water and the resin.

Ion exchange water softeners also require regular regeneration, involving washing the hardness minerals off the resin and flushing it with a high-sodium solution. This regeneration process is often too complex to fit within the confines of a typical shower filter.

Redox Media

Another method for water softening is a process called Redox, short for reduction/oxidation.This method utilizes a redox medium, which is a specially formulated bimetal with high purity. Redox media is found in some shower filters.

The redox method operates by exchanging electrons between the substances in water and the bimetal. While this process may alter the form of hardness minerals, it does not entirely remove them from the water.

Shower Filters For Hard Water

Here’s three examples of shower filters that incorporate specific filters or filter media for reducing hard water:

1. AquaBliss HD Multi-Stage Shower Filter

Shower filters from AquaBliss use 30% more filtration media that most other brands to remove hard water minerals. These filters reduce the effect of hard water by passing the water through several layers of filtration including redox media and active carbon.

2. Aquasana Deluxe Shower Filter

The Aquasana AQ-410 deluxe shower filter has a redox filtration layer which helps to soften water (reduces water hardness).

3. Adovel 15-Stage Shower Filter

This shower filter by Adovel passes water through 15 filtration layers which include a redox layer, activated carbon, and ceramic balls which help to reduce the hardness of water.

Why You Shouldn’t Shower with Hard Water

Hard water isn’t harmful to health when you drink it, but it is definitely an inconvenience when used around the house.

Hard water makes it difficult for your soap to lather. It can also leave cloudy deposits on your dishware, clog your faucets and shower heads, and damage your plumbing.

Showering with hard water is especially problematic. Here are all the negative effects you can experience if you shower with hard water.

1. It dries out your skin

When you drink water rich in minerals, it may be good for your skin and hair. But, using hard water for baths and showers over long periods (months or years) causes minerals to deposit and build up on your skin.

This external build-up of minerals can clog your pores. The pores on your skin are very important in maintaining your skin’s moisture.

Pores help absorb moisture from the environment. They also contain glands that secrete oil.

When mineral deposits clog your pores, your skin can’t absorb moisture or secrete oil the way it should. This can leave your skin feeling dry, itchy, and looking unhealthy.

2. It can irritate your skin

Continuous bathing in hard water can damage your natural skin barrier which can make you susceptible to skin irritations. You may notice red patches of skin that can be itchy. 

A damaged skin barrier can also increase your chances of developing skin disorders such as eczema. It can also aggravate existing skin conditions such as psoriasis. 

This may be a problem, especially for people that have sensitive skin as well as babies and young children.

3. Hair Damage

Using hard water to bathe can be harmful to the health of your hair as well. As the mineral deposits build-up, they clog your hair follicles.

Hair follicles play a vital role in absorbing moisture for your hair strands. They also secrete oil which keeps hair healthy, protected and moisturized.

The minerals also coat your hair strands, making it difficult for hair products such as moisturizers and conditioners, to penetrate and have their effect.

Your hair will become difficult to style and maintain.

The mineral coat also affects the appearance and texture of your hair, leaving it dull-looking and frizzy.

Color-treated hair is also likely to fade faster if hard water is used to wash it.

But hard water doesn’t just affect the aesthetics of your hair. It can also contribute to hair loss because the lack of moisture makes it easier for hair breakage to occur.

4.    Eye Irritation

When the minerals in hard water come into contact with your eyes, they can dry them out, making them red, itchy, and irritated. 

Because hard water doesn’t allow soap to lather well, soap residues can also get in your eyes and irritate them.

Also read about shower filters that are able to remove copper here.

Theresa Orr

Theresa Orr is an Earth Scientist who specializes in determining past climates from rocks using geochemistry. Her passion for clean water drives her to breakdown the science to provide easy to understand information that everyone can read.

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