How To Test Water Hardness In Your Shower
(And How To 'Soften' Hard Water)
Do you believe the claims made in reviews about gadgets you can buy online? We expect not. That’s why we decided to make a video to show you just how good our shower heads are at removing hard water minerals from your shower water.
We tested one of our products, the StoneStream Hardwater Filtration Kit, against a standard showerhead we bought from Amazon. By the way, we didn’t choose the worst one we could find. In fact the Amazon showerhead is very popular and has plenty of good reviews. So, watch the video below and see what happens. You’ll admit it’s impressive.
Do you have hard water?
However, before we get onto that, do you know if you have hard water or not? And what is hard water anyway? Many places in the UK and the USA suffer from it. In fact, any area in any country that has underlying geology of limestone or chalk will have hard water. Furthermore, the amount of dissolved minerals in the water determines its hardness level.
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Magnesium and calcium minerals in the rock dissolve in groundwater and find their way into your domestic water supply. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt you if you drink it, but we know that hard water can make your skin dry and hair unmanageable. In fact, many of our customers complain about skin and hair problems and then report that they’re much improved after using our products. Not only that, but, hard water minerals make washing difficult, both showering and laundry. The dissolved minerals react with soap to produce the scum you find around a bathtub and you need to use much more soap to produce a lather than in a soft water area. Fortunately, washing machines and dishwashers usually have water softeners built-in. But, usually, showerheads and showers don’t.
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Now for a bit of science
Okay. We bought a Water Quality Tester to measure the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in our water (You can buy these on Amazon for about £12GBP or $15USD). It measures the conductivity of the water sample and from this calculates the concentration of dissolved minerals. The meter displays its results in Parts Per Million (PPM). This is a standard method of displaying concentrations and at low levels is equivalent to the mass of dissolved solids per litre of water or mg/L.
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Although these little testers aren’t as accurate as the test results you’d get from a laboratory, this simple do it yourself solution can get you quite accurate results at a fraction of the price (thousands of dollars and a whole lot of hassle for a test lab vs. 1-day delivery and a $15USD pocket tester - it’s a ‘no brainer’). These little Water Quality Testers are ideal for you or me to get an idea of what levels of dissolved minerals we have in our water. And even better, it’s something you can test for yourself.
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So, let’s run a comparison test
We used a fixed type shower head for the comparison you see on the video but it will work just as well if you have a handheld model.
Notice the TDS reading for the water sample collected from the standard shower head is 223ppm, which is acceptable as drinking water. Moreover, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a TDS level of less than 300ppm. So, you can see that although the hardness is acceptable it’s getting close to the limit. According to WHO , a TDS reading of more than 180 mg/L (ppm) calcium carbonate indicates very hard water.
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We then installed the StoneStream Hard Water Filtration Kit and carried out exactly the same test. You can see that it significantly improved the TDS levels that are now at 122 mg/L (ppm).
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You’re probably mumbling under your breath and saying that you can’t determine exact figures from just one test and the Water Quality Tester isn’t 100% accurate.
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You are correct. To carry out an accurate experiment, we should have collected many water samples and taken an average of the results. But, we only want to give you an indication of the StoneStream product’s performance and one test is adequate for that. Maybe, if you perform this test at home, and wish to contribute to science, you can send in your results. We would love to hear from you, along with a paragraph or two describing your method.
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Both these TDS levels are classed as excellent drinking water and are exactly what you would expect from a domestic water supply. Many water purifying organizations use the below scale to describe the available TDS data in ways that the non-scientist can understand. It shows that the total dissolved solid levels in water from the StoneStream Hard Water Filtration Kit are equivalent to using “ Water from a mountain spring or a carbon filtration plant”, whereas the original water TDS levels are “Marginally Acceptable”.
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You can’t argue with that!
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So, how does our product do this?
Depending on your water problem, you have a choice of various filtration media or mineral stones filtration and water softening. You can either use them independently or both at the same time.
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If you use a combination of our Multifunction EcoPower Showerhead and the Universal Shower Hard Water Filter, you will use efficient filtration and water softening methods to significantly reduce
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Solids such as limescale, dirt, and bacteria.
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Gases like chlorine.
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Dissolved solids that cause water hardness.
The Universal Shower Hard Water Filter uses a 15 stage filtration process to remove sediment, odour and chlorine, reduce heavy metals and hard water minerals, inhibit bacterial growth and restore its colour.
The EcoPower Showerhead uses mineral stone beads to remove impurities and negatively charged ions, adjusts the pH (acidity) of the water and reduces hard water minerals.
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Do you like what you see?
Even the sceptics among you can’t argue with a real experiment. Although the one you saw on the video wasn’t scientifically rigorous, it should give you an idea of how effective our products are. They condition the domestic water you use in your shower by filtering and removing the hardness caused by dissolved minerals.
Much more than "just" purifying your shower water
The new EcoPower shower heads series and the different kits offered on our website are capable of not only reducing the solids and unwanted substances in your shower water by 46% as you've seen in the test we've performed, but they also help you save water.
The STOP button incorporated in our flagship showerhead models is a great way to instantly stop the water flow which other than being very handy when you wash your hair and face, making it easier for you to stop the water flow blindly without the need to reach out and look for the water valve, it also saves water thanks to the efficient nature of that instant action. Think about the time it takes you to turn off the water while soaping, if you even bother. With the STOP button you'll be delighted to do so. Ask anybody who has our showerhead installed in their home and they'll tell you.
We can go on and on about the different features and why we think our products are up to their hype, but it's time to let you be the judge and give them a go. Try them for yourself and decide. We offer free shipping, free change-of-heart returns, and 100% comparability guarantee with any shower type. So you can relax and know we got your back, and if you're not pleased for any reason, we'll simply offer a full refund for you.
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If you're ready, click the button below and join the 150,000 happy customers around the world who chose StoneStream for their shower and enjoy healthier shower water