Limescale

When we first moved into our flat, we found that there are white chalky deposits in the shower and sink. We subsequently found the same thing in kettle and cooking utensils as well! Later, we were told that this annoying white stuff is called limescale, and it still haunts us til today.

So, why are there white deposit all over the place?

It has to do with the quality of water. In Melbourne and Sydney, I never had this problem. It also wasn't a problem when I was in Hong Kong, where the tap water is not drinkable. 

The white chalky stuff is from the hard water, which contains calcium carbonate and other similar salts. The salts are in the water because it has been pumped from or filtered through natural underground reservoirs called aquifers. These salts come from the rocks underground.

Calcium carbonate is rather unusual, in that it becomes less solution when the water is heated up. As a result, there are white deposits in places where hot water has ran by.

The built-up can eventually block pipes, as shown in this photo from http://www.tamhil.com:



Scary stuff.

The hard water would also combine with soap to form scum on almost all surfaces. It is often rock solid and is almost impossible to remove.

Worse of all, using soap on the body in hard water can also cause scum to be formed on the skin. This stuff remains on the skin even after rinsing, thus clogging pores and coating body hair. It also encourages growth of bacteria!

So, what're the solutions?

(1) You can scrub off the limescale with the help of chemical limescale cleaner.

(2) You can use an ion exchange water softener, which effectively replaces all the calcium in the water with sodium. It is rather expensive to run and the water may not be suitable for drinking as the level of sodium has increased dramatically.

(3) There is also a third solution, which is not exactly confirmed yet. This involves the use of electronic or magnetic water descaler, which is wrapped around the incoming water pipe to pass a magnetic field through the water. As the water passes through, the salts molecules lose their attraction to one another and are prevented from combining into larger structures to become limescale. The molecules are held in suspension. The water treated in this way will eventually return to its original structure (the limescale forming salt), but the treated water should be used and washed away before this happens.

Right now, to make ourselves feel better about the water we drink, we are using Brita. If you know of any other solutions which works, please let me know.