It’s So Hard: The Effects of Hard Water on You Skin

The second you came to Davis, you quickly learned that Davis has some funky water.  It does not taste clean or refreshing, and it has nasty particles floating in it when examined through a clear glass.  In order to combat the taste of those particles, we buy bottled water, have water systems delivered to our house or apartment, and use various filter devices to remove the elements and the taste.  Unfortunately, there are certain instances where we have no choice but to use the water that flows through our Davis pipes, like when we shower or wash our faces.  

What’s in the water?  We all know there are elements and particles floating through the water that classify it as “hard,” but what does that really mean?   According to hardwater.org, hard water is “high in dissolved minerals, specifically calcium and magnesium…  The degree of hardness becomes greater as the calcium and magnesium content increases.”  To know exactly what is in the Davis water, check out the Davis Water Quality Report.  From this, you can see how many different elements are in the water, the amount of each element, and the potential source.  

What does it do?  Hopefully, you use soap when you are in the shower in order to clean yourself and remove all of the dirt off of your skin.  When you suds up in a shower that spews hard water, you are left with a “film of sticky soap curd on the skin” (hardwater.org).  In essence, you are removing something from the surface of your skin, only to smear something else on it.  

The Davis Water Quality Report shows the number of elements in the water, but certain elements are more harmful to our skin than others. According to dermatologist, Dr. Dennis Gross, impurities “including iron, copper, magnesium, lead, and zinc, can act as free radicals [that]…  bond with healthy skin cells and immediately begin destroying them, setting off a chain reaction of cell destruction” (dermstore.com).  Dr. Gross continues to explain how “this chain reaction can lead to the breakdown of collagen, cause redness and irritation, enlarge the appearance of pores and lead to the formation of fine lines, wrinkles, or even acne.”  No wonder we are all breaking out!  This is one thing we can no longer blame our time of the month for.

Heavy metals in the water prohibit natural oils from flowing through our pores.  Believe it or not, this is a process that we want to occur.  When oils cannot freely flow through our pores, we get acne and inflammation.  The National Institute of Health even stated that we have increased sweat and body temperature when exerting a lot of energy.  

What can we do?  The easiest solution to hard water on your skin is to limit its exposure.  Take shorter showers and use filtered or bottled water to wash your face.
Since the combination of hard water and soap leaves your skin, in a sense, dirtier, it is essential to use less soap in order to leave less film on your skin.  In order to remove many of the minerals that build up on your skin, you can exfoliate more often using a gentle scrub.  Also, moisturize more often than you would otherwise.  The heavy metals in the water dry out your skin, making it safe for you to moisturize more and even with a heavier moisturizer.  

Sources

http://www.hardwater.org/

http://cityofdavis.org/pw/water/

http://www.dermstore.com/articles/article_83.htm

http://www.nih.gov/