How to Test Water Hardness in Singapore: A Simple Guide

Water quality affects many aspects of our daily routines—the water you drink from the taps, the water you bathe in, and the water you use when doing chores. One of the factors that affects the quality of the water that you drink can be the level of its hardness. This can cause various problems in the water quality, from apparel staining to damaging the performance of appliances.

In this tutorial article, you will learn ways to measure the level of water hardness and the role of the Waterdrop Water Filter in improving the situation of hard water in Singapore.

The measurement of water hardness reveals the quantity of dissolved minerals of calcium and magnesium in the water. The greater the levels of calcium and magnesium ions in the water, the higher the water’s hardness: Calcium & Magnesium.

In Singapore's case, the levels of hardness depend upon the source of the water: from local reservoirs, desalination of the water, and imported water. Although the water from the taps meets the requirements of being safe to drink, the levels of dissolved

"Hard water" isn't hazardous to one’s health, but can be the cause of many problems in the home because:

The hard water tends to create scales in faucets, pipes, and appliances such as kettles, dishwashers, and water boilers. The scales can be rather stubborn and often work to wear down appliances.

The water can cause the laundry to be rigid and less shiny. The soap and/or detergent will also not lather properly.

It can cause skin to be dry and irritated and hair to be dull because soap and shampoos do not rinse cleanly due to hard water.

This can be attributed to the reduced efficiency of larger appliances like water heaters.

Click here if you want to learn more about E ssential Minerals in Drinking Water: A Guide for Singaporean Readers.

There are also home remedy tests and professional ones. These are the most popular ways:

These rolls of tape are quick, easy, and inexpensive to use. They are available at hardware stores and online shopping platforms. Simple to use: immerse the strip in a water sample and wait a few seconds. Match the color of the strip against the chart provided on the packaging to obtain the value of hardness in grains per gallon (gpg) and/or mg/L.

And another easy technique using a clear plastic bottled water and a pearl of soap. Partially fill the bottle with water from the tap to about one-third of the volume. Add a few drops of liquid soap and shake vigorously. This provides a rough estimation. It's not as accurate as the test stripes.

• Numerous bubbles and clear water signify soft water.
• A few bubbles and cloudy/milky water indicate hard water.

To understand the quality of the water precisely and in its entirety, one can consider a professional evaluation. This can be had through the various water treatment firms available in the region. They provide information about the level of hardness and contaminants. Some firms also provide a quality of water test result, which indicates pH levels, the quantity of chlorine, and various heavy metals.

If you live in Singapore and experience problems due to hard water, you can refer to the following solutions.

RO systems are another good option. They employ a semipermeable membrane to filter out the minerals and other impurities from the water and greatly minimize the hardness. Waterdrop provides compact and efficient RO filters that can be used in homes and businesses in Singapore.

The general remedy is a water softener. This device replaces the ions of calcium and magnesium with sodium ions, thus reducing the hardness of water.

Choosing a solution for the home as a whole might not appeal to you, so you can also consider filters in the form of pitchers. They work to soften the water’s hardness and are inexpensive.

"Hard water" can be a problem in many homes. Testing and addressing hard water helps. Whether at home using a test strip or sending a sample to a professional lab, the results will provide information about what to do next. For Singaporeans who face the problem of hard water in their homes, a reverse osmosis filter such as Waterdrop can provide a practical solution to this problem.