Water is very much crucial for life to sustain. Every individual has to drink at least 2-3 litres of water in a day. If you drink less than the required amount of water in a day, you would get dehydrated resulting in many health problems. While one fact is that water is required for living, the other fact is that you require good quality water for consumption.
Today, most of the fresh water sources are contaminated in one way or other. Apart from the biological contaminants, it can contain chemicals, which are detrimental to health. Though it is very important for every person to have easy access to clean drinking water, data suggests that only one in eight people have access to safe water. This access is primarily because of installing water purifiers at homes and offices.
There are several homes across India that receive hard water supply, which is unfit for drinking, cooking or other purposes. Many people use water softeners to negate the effect of hard water. But, for those who don’t use water softeners, hard water can result in many health problems when consumed on a regular basis. Read on to find out how detrimental hard water can be for your health.
Cardiovascular Diseases
One of the most catastrophic effects of regular consumption of hard water is an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. If high levels of calcium and magnesium salts are present in the drinking water, it can lead to high blood pressure and heart diseases. High blood pressure can, in turn, cause harm to the body in multiple ways.
Dryness of Skin
If you are bathing in hard water, the soap residues don’t get rinsed away properly from the surface of the skin. This leaves the skin dry. The problem is further compounded if one has sensitive skin or suffers from skin problems like eczema or psoriasis. If you want to ward off such skin problems, the best way is to use water softeners to convert hard water into soft water.
Brittle Lifeless Hair
Washing hair using hard water results exposure of hair to chlorine and other salts present in the water like those of calcium, magnesium and silica. This makes the hair dry and can lead to breakage and thinning of hair. These salts can also lead to dandruff and destroy the hair follicles.
Diarrhoea
If magnesium and sulphates are present in high concentrations in the drinking water, it can have a laxative effect on the body. A person can experience a change in bowel habits and suffer from frequent bouts of diarrhoea.
Causes Many Other Problems
The epidemiological investigations have contradicted the belief that hard water has adverse effects only on plumbing, appliances etc. and not on health. Besides instigating the cardiovascular problems, it can also lead to reproductive failure, renal dysfunction, diabetes, neural diseases etc.
Though some salts are required in drinking water, when their concentration gets really high or way above the prescribed limits, it becomes a cause of disease rather than being beneficial to the body. The studies are still on to understand the impact of hard water on the human body. As of now, the data is insufficient to suggest the minimum or maximum concentrations of minerals in the water, but one thing that is certain is that hard water does cause adverse effects on the body when consumed on a regular basis.