Septic systems, road salt, fertilizer, animal waste, landfills, or other wastes. Change the depth of, repair, or replace the well. If alkalinity is much higher than total hardness in an unsoftened sample, consider testing for sodium. If alkalinity is much lower than total hardness, test for chloride, nitrate, and sulfate. The lower the alkalinity, the more likely water is to be corrosive.
Hard water is beneficial to health.
Water that is naturally too soft may be corrosive. The water softening industry measures hardness in grains per gallon. Many rocks in Wisconsin commonly referred to as limestone are actually dolomite. Limestone is composed of calcium and carbonate, while dolomite is made up of calcium, magnesium and carbonate. It is calculated from pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness and conductivity data.