The hardness of the water delivered by the City varies from hard to very hard. The higher the concentration of these minerals, the harder the water. Hard water is safe to drink. While the calcium and magnesium minerals are important to good health, they may cause white spots or a white film on your glassware, coffee pots and shower doors, as well as deposits in boilers and water heaters. These spots or deposits are formed when hard water is heated or evaporates.
Ice cubes can be white instead of clear in appearance when made with hard water.
Because hard water reacts with soap, many laundry detergents contain softening ingredients to improve their effectiveness. A small amount of a detergent rinse can be added to the rinse cycle of a dishwasher to allow the water to drain from the glassware prior to evaporating. The City's job is to safeguard the public health at a reasonable cost to the consumer. Without a public health concern, this effort is prohibitively expensive. We think it's important for our customers to have current and factual information about their water supply.