Why is it hard to get the soap off my hands, body, hair, clothes or car? (Hardness of water?)

The reason that you have a hard time is due to the hardness of the water. "Soft water" is said to be soft if it has a low concentration of calcium and magnesium ions in it, as opposed to “hard water” which has a high concentration of calcium and magnesium. Our city water that you use is hard water, this causes washing your hands and bathing with soap to leave a film on the skin and can lead to dryness of the skin. Washing with hard water also makes it harder to work the soap up into lather, causing the use of additional soap and can also leave spots or a film on cars, or dishes. The city uses hard water over soft water as part of its corrosion control program as soft water tends to be more corrosive and can break down metal (cast iron, copper, galvanized steel) piping throughout the system. The usual level of hardness for the city is roughly 115 ppm or 6.7 grains per gallon (gpg). There is no maximum contaminant level set specifically for hardness as it is not deemed a health concern. Total dissolved solids, which include hardness, does have a non-mandatory secondary maximum contaminant level (SMCL) of 500 mg/L (ppm) which is equivalent to 29.2 gpg. These secondary contaminant limits are set as voluntary limits for contaminants that are deemed to not be a health concern but are a concern for the aesthetics of the water itself (taste, color, odor etc). For more information on secondary contaminants and their SMCL please visit the EPA's Secondary Standards.

Show All Answers

1. What are the hours for Customer Service?
2.

Payment Kiosk

3. How does the payment kiosk work?
4. What if my service has been interrupted?
5. Is the drop box still available?
6. Do I need to have my bill with me to pay at the kiosk?
7. Does the payment kiosk provide receipts?
8. Does the payment kiosk provide change?
9. Does the payment kiosk accept coins?
10. Do payments post to my account immediately?
11.

General FAQs

12. How do I start utility service?
13. If my service has been disconnected for non-payment, how do I get my water restored?
14. What if my home is used as a seasonal property?
15.

Bills and Payments

16. How can I pay my bill? Where should I mail my payment?
17. How often will I be billed?
18. What occurs if my payment is late?
19. Why do I have two late fees on one bill?
20. What happens if I don't receive a bill?
21.

High Consumption and Leaks

22. How can I receive a credit for a pool fill?
23. Meters and Reading the Meter
24. How does Cocoa read the meter when it is covered by dirt or under water?
25. Who owns the water meter?
26. What is the watering restriction?
27. Does Cocoa ever estimate water meter readings?
28. How do we know the meter did not speed up?
29. How can I read my water meter?
30.

Water Line Breaks

31. What if I have a water line break?
32. What if I have a water line break after hours or on weekends?
33.

Misc.

34. Are there any Senior Citizen or Disabled Citizen discounts?
35. What is a cross connection?
36.

Water Quality Questions

37. Why do I sometimes see black particles in my water?
38. I had my water tested for free and they are saying I have some issues with my water, is my water safe?
39. Is tap water safe to be used for kidney dialysis?
40. Can I use regular tap water in my aquarium?
41. Can you recommend a water treatment device?
42. Is bottled water safer than tap water?
43. My tap water has a brown, red, or yellow color tint, what can I do?
44. My tap water sometimes looks milky or opaque, why is that?
45. The aerators on my faucets have white particles on them and there are white particles in my water. What is this?
46. Why is there white residue sometimes on my dishes, the shower, and in the ice cubes?
47. Why is it hard to get the soap off my hands, body, hair, clothes or car? (Hardness of water?)
48. Sometimes I smell an odor coming from my tap. What could this be?
49. My water smells and tastes like chlorine or bleach, what can I do?
50. Is fluoride in my drinking water?
51. What is the red/pink tinted stuff in my shower, toilet, or pet bowl?
52. What if I did not find an answer to my question about Drinking Water?
53. What is "backflow"