Beyond the Faucet: Improving Water Quality for Showering and Bathing

Water quality is one area of concern that, when we think about it, is most likely associated with the kitchen tap. We need filtering so we have clean water ready to drink immediately, but what about the water that we use on our faces and bodies each day? Your daily shower or bath reflects one of your most impactful points of contact with your home water source.

Sadly, this can result in problems in your skin, hair, and even your respiratory health. In the case of untreated municipal water, the two culprits are mineral hardness and chemical disinfection byproducts. Although you can't visualize them, their symptoms are often quite noticeable: dry, itchy skin and dull hair; more subtle, long-term health dangers.

It's time to go beyond the faucet and understand why the quality of your shower water is just as important as the quality of your drinking water.

The Dermal Difference: How Hard Water Affects Your Skin Barrier

If you live in an area where there is 'hard water', you're in contact with a high concentration of dissolved minerals, like magnesium and calcium. Although it is not dangerous to take in, these minerals destroy your skin. When you lather up, those minerals interact with the fatty acids in soap and body wash to create 'soap scum', a sticky and insoluble residue. And instead of rinsing neatly off, this film gets stuck to your skin.

This residue clogs pores, causing breakouts and inflammation. And more crucially, it affects your skin's natural protective barrier. This barrier keeps moisture in and irritants out. When that's threatened by a constantly persistent layer of mineral detritus, your skin becomes susceptible to dryness, tightness and lasting itchiness.

For those with chronic skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, or dermatitis, hard water can trigger a large number of flare-ups, leading to more frequent or serious ones. All kinds of expensive lotions and creams can be applied, but if you're getting in a hard water shower daily, you're fighting a losing battle.

Hair Health: Soft Water's Secret to Shine and Manageability

Consequently, a little mineral buildup along the hair shaft lifts the cuticles of hair, making it look rough or dry and brittle. In any case, it weighs down your hair, making it seem limp and lifeless.

You may observe that your shampoo doesn't lather well, forcing you to use additional products, or that your conditioner does not work well, leaving hair tangled and dull. The mineral build-up acts to prevent moisture from entering the hair shaft. It can also make your hair color fade faster and take on brassy tones.

When you switch to soft water, that dramatic change happens almost immediately. Soft water has such a natural lather for soap and shampoo to come through properly and rinse away completely. The hair cuticle may lie flat where there is no mineral residue to be removed, so the hair is naturally softer, shinier and much easier to manage. You'll apply less product, your hair will feel fresher, and it will have its natural vibrance restored.

The Inhalation Risk: Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs) in Shower Steam

Possibly the most serious concern about shower water has nothing to do with minerals. To protect our water supply against bacteria, municipalities use disinfectants – most often chlorine. As mentioned previously, chlorine in an environment has a chemical property: when that molecule reacts with some organic matter on the surface, it produces disinfection byproducts (DBPs), which are a family of chemicals that we know as Trihalomethanes (THMs).

THMs are categorized as Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs), making them easily transform from a fluid into a gas. A hot, steamy shower provides a perfect environment for this to take place. When you're showering, these chemicals flow into the closed area of your bathroom, and you inhale the chemicals.

During a 10-minute shower, you can absorb more of these contaminants through inhalation (as opposed to just drinking eight glasses of the same water). When inhaled, these chemicals avoid entering the digestive tract and instead enter the bloodstream via the lungs.

The EPA and other health organisations have associated long-term exposure to THMs with serious health risks, including an increased risk of certain cancers and even reproductive problems.

Whole-House vs. Shower Head Filters: Which Provides Real Protection

Most, aware there's a problem with chlorine, rely on shower head filters. These filters are better than none: it's just a point-of-use, limited option. Most contain a small amount of carbon or KDF media that are designed to reduce chlorine. Yet their small sizes mean they have too short a contact time and capability to efficiently wash away the more complex THMs.

They also don't address the hardness of the water, which needs replacement frequently. They treat only one shower, and leave you exposed as you bathe, at the bathroom sink and from the steam condensing out of your dishwasher. The only true overall solution is a whole-house water treatment system. But by installing a system at your home's point of entry, you solve these problems from the source. A mixture of a whole-house carbon filter and water softener offers full protection.

Case Study: The First Week of Soft Water on Skin and Hair

Imagine a typical family making the switch. On day one, they notice the 'slippery' feel of the water – this isn't a film being left behind, but rather the clean feeling of their skin's natural oils with no soap or scum to wipe them down. The amount of soap and shampoo they use is reduced by half. By day three, they notice that their hair is softer, looser, and easier to style.

The chronic itchiness one family member felt after every shower has disappeared. Everyone's skin feels hydrated and smooth, not tight and dry. Hair is vibrant and soft. The notorious chlorine odor in the bathroom has dissipated into clean, freshwater air. There is less soap scum buildup even in the shower doors.

Your daily shower can be a healthy ritual, not a place where you could be exposed to nasty minerals and chemicals. When treating your water for the whole home, you pay for long-term health for your family's skin, hair, and general health. Contact a trusted water treatment specialist now to get a free water analysis and see how a switch can benefit you.