Feranija <feranija@net...> wrote

> Please, is there any way to determine hardness of tap water with household
> ingredients ? I know a soap will not produce as much suds in hard water as it
> will foam in soft water, but the trouble is I can't compare, I don't know how
> much soap foam I should expect in soft/hard water.

You could try it with known soft water,
what is sold in bottles as drinking water.

> I don't need extremely precise results, I just need to know is water soft or
> hard, or something in-between regarding amount of calcium and magnesium it
> contains.

One relatively crude approach is to just let it evaporate
complete on glass, see how much salt you end up with.

"Feranija" <feranija@net...> wrote in message
...
> Please, is there any way to determine hardness of tap water with
> household ingredients ? I know a soap will not produce as much suds
> in hard water as it will foam in soft water, but the trouble is I
> can't compare, I don't know how much soap foam I should expect in
> soft/hard water.
>
> I don't need extremely precise results, I just need to know is water
> soft or hard, or something in-between regarding amount of calcium and
> magnesium it contains. Thank you very much.


"Detergent" is not soap and comes in many forms so the sudsing effect can be
extremely variable whether the water is hard or soft. If I recall, there
used to be some crude tests to categorize water as hard or soft using simple
soap. Don't remember the details or if you could find a "simple" soap
nowadays.

I check my water softener occasionally with a simple hardness test kit.
Easy to use. They should be available at pet stores with an aquarium
department. You want the one that tests for general hardness, GH, which is
a measure of the calcium and magnesium. There is another that tests for
total dissolved solids that you won't want. I recently bought one on-line.
It cost about $8 plus $5 for S&H.

SJF

your water company will have all that info. in fact, it's mailed to my
house twice a year
"Feranija" <feranija@net...> wrote in message
...
> Please, is there any way to determine hardness of tap water with
> household ingredients ? I know a soap will not produce as much suds
> in hard water as it will foam in soft water, but the trouble is I
> can't compare, I don't know how much soap foam I should expect in
> soft/hard water.
>
> I don't need extremely precise results, I just need to know is water
> soft or hard, or something in-between regarding amount of calcium and
> magnesium it contains. Thank you very much.
>
>
>

On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 05:27:32 GMT, in misc.consumers.frugal-living "Nicole H"
> wrote:

>your water company will have all that info. in fact, it's mailed to my
>house twice a year
>"Feranija" <feranija@net...> wrote in message
...
>> Please, is there any way to determine hardness of tap water with
>> household ingredients ? I know a soap will not produce as much suds
>> in hard water as it will foam in soft water, but the trouble is I
>> can't compare, I don't know how much soap foam I should expect in
>> soft/hard water.
>>
>> I don't need extremely precise results, I just need to know is water
>> soft or hard, or something in-between regarding amount of calcium and
>> magnesium it contains. Thank you very much.
>>
>>
>>
>
http://www.mgwater.com/hardfig4.gif

In article >, feranija@net... says...
>
>Please, is there any way to determine hardness of tap water with
>household ingredients ?

If you just want to test how a particular
soap or detergent reacts with your water
vs pure water, you can buy a gallon of
DISTILLED WATER at Walmart for 58 cents
(where I live). Be sure it says DISTILLED
and not nursery, drinking or spring water
on the label.

"Feranija" <feranija@net...> wrote in message
...
> Please, is there any way to determine hardness of tap water with
> household ingredients ? I know a soap will not produce as much suds
> in hard water as it will foam in soft water, but the trouble is I
> can't compare, I don't know how much soap foam I should expect in
> soft/hard water.
>
> I don't need extremely precise results, I just need to know is water
> soft or hard, or something in-between regarding amount of calcium and
> magnesium it contains. Thank you very much.


You could boil away a gallon of water in a glass container, then see how
much residue is left.
=Tock

Tock wrote:
> "Feranija" <feranija@net...> wrote in message
> ...

>>I don't need extremely precise results, I just need to know is water
>>soft or hard, or something in-between

> You could boil away a gallon of water in a glass container, then see how
> much residue is left.

Good luck cleaning the glass dish afterwards. I have a nasty habit
of putting water on for tea and then forgetting about it, so I've got
more than one pan with a nasty coat of whatever was in the water.
On a metal pan, that stuff is damn near impossible to clean off.
I tried dish soap, lemon juice (it contais an organic acid, so it
should eat away a thin layer of metal, in theory) , elbow grease,
and finally stainless steel polish, and I still have a layer of
something in that pan. I also did the same thing with a non-stick
pan, and that pan had to go into the trash.

- Logan

Logan Shaw > wrote:
> Tock wrote:
>> "Feranija" <feranija@net...> wrote in message
>> ...
>
>>> I don't need extremely precise results, I just need to know is water
>>> soft or hard, or something in-between
>
>> You could boil away a gallon of water in a glass container, then see
>> how much residue is left.
>
> Good luck cleaning the glass dish afterwards. I have a nasty habit
> of putting water on for tea and then forgetting about it, so I've got
> more than one pan with a nasty coat of whatever was in the water.
> On a metal pan, that stuff is damn near impossible to clean off.
> I tried dish soap, lemon juice (it contais an organic acid, so it
> should eat away a thin layer of metal, in theory) , elbow grease,
> and finally stainless steel polish, and I still have a layer of
> something in that pan. I also did the same thing with a non-stick
> pan, and that pan had to go into the trash.

Just dont boil it away, let it evaporate when 99% has been boiled away.

In article >,
Logan Shaw > wrote:
[ ... ]
>Good luck cleaning the glass dish afterwards. I have a nasty habit
>of putting water on for tea and then forgetting about it, so I've got
>more than one pan with a nasty coat of whatever was in the water.
>On a metal pan, that stuff is damn near impossible to clean off.
>I tried dish soap, lemon juice (it contais an organic acid, so it
>should eat away a thin layer of metal, in theory) , elbow grease,
>and finally stainless steel polish, and I still have a layer of
>something in that pan. I also did the same thing with a non-stick
>pan, and that pan had to go into the trash.

Use something a bit stronger--LimeAway or C-L-R will get the residue
off.


Gary

--
Gary Heston
The Intel ASCI Red supercomputer placed first in the 11/97 list of
the top 500 supercomputers in the world, at 1.338 TeraFLOPs max.
As of 6/05, it wouldn't make the list.

In article >,
says...

>Good luck cleaning the glass dish afterwards.

I feel sure you must know about the commercial
products like "Lime Away" which are made for
dissolving hard water deposits. I used to have
to use it to clean my coffee maker periodically,
until I got wise and began using distilled water.
All of the commercial products work best when
warm/warmed.

A water softener is out of the question for me.

Feranija wrote:
> Please, is there any way to determine hardness of tap water with
> household ingredients ? I know a soap will not produce as much suds
> in hard water as it will foam in soft water, but the trouble is I
> can't compare, I don't know how much soap foam I should expect in
> soft/hard water.

> I don't need extremely precise results, I just need to know is water
> soft or hard, or something in-between regarding amount of calcium and
> magnesium it contains. Thank you very much.

There are kits that will allow you to estimate the hardness. Look for
swimming pool supplies.

--
Ron

Gary Heston wrote:
>
> In article >,
> Logan Shaw > wrote:
> [ ... ]
> >Good luck cleaning the glass dish afterwards. I have a nasty habit
> >of putting water on for tea and then forgetting about it, so I've got
> >more than one pan with a nasty coat of whatever was in the water.
> >On a metal pan, that stuff is damn near impossible to clean off.
> >I tried dish soap, lemon juice (it contais an organic acid, so it
> >should eat away a thin layer of metal, in theory) , elbow grease,
> >and finally stainless steel polish, and I still have a layer of
> >something in that pan. I also did the same thing with a non-stick
> >pan, and that pan had to go into the trash.
>
> Use something a bit stronger--LimeAway or C-L-R will get the residue
> off.

Or wait until it's thick enough and smack the bottom of the kettle smartly.
The mineral deposit will crack into small pieces which can be rinsed away. It
doesn't work perfectly, but who looks inside a tea kettle anyway? When it
stops whistling and cleaning the whistle mechanism doesn't work any more,
recycle it and get a new one. This is another thing that people sell cheap
but nearly-new at yard sales...

--
Cheers, Bev
================================================== =======
"Life is actually fair. It just doesn't seem to be common
knowledge that 'fair' sometimes sucks." -- Jim Cook

"Feranija" <feranija@net...> wrote in message
...
> Please, is there any way to determine hardness of tap water with
> household ingredients ? I know a soap will not produce as much suds
> in hard water as it will foam in soft water, but the trouble is I
> can't compare, I don't know how much soap foam I should expect in
> soft/hard water.
>
> I don't need extremely precise results, I just need to know is water
> soft or hard, or something in-between regarding amount of calcium and
> magnesium it contains. Thank you very much.

If it's city water, contact the water utility and ask them.

Bob

The Montana number is even close to correct.. this map is suspect!

Many state have monitoring wells all over and publish analysis of
samples on a state website.

Your water dept is a good place to contact.

"Bob" > skrev i melding
...
>
> "Feranija" <feranija@net...> wrote in message
> ...
>> Please, is there any way to determine hardness of tap water with
>> household ingredients ? I know a soap will not produce as much suds
>> in hard water as it will foam in soft water, but the trouble is I
>> can't compare, I don't know how much soap foam I should expect in
>> soft/hard water.
>>
>> I don't need extremely precise results, I just need to know is water
>> soft or hard, or something in-between regarding amount of calcium and
>> magnesium it contains. Thank you very much.
>
> If it's city water, contact the water utility and ask them.
>
> Bob
>
Hope this page will help you with your info search.

http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/water/g1274.htm

Love from Norway