Well water usually has higher mineral content, especially calcium and magnesium salts, agricultural runoffs, and other chemicals. These minerals and chemicals are hard on the skin and can cause many skin issues. If you are using hard water and wondering why your skin is itching and having rashes, the culprit could be the hard water.
Itchy and dry skin, acne breakouts, skin irritations, and other signs may associate with using hard water. This article will provide details on relation between hard water and skin itching/rashes.
Well Water Contaminants and Skin Issues
Well water is not the only culprit that can cause itching to your skin. Various diseases like pediculosis, scabies, and erythrasma or allergic reactions to perfumes, laundry detergent, and soaps could be the other possible reasons behind skin irritations. But if you are sure that you don’t have a problem with the factors mentioned above, chances are high that your hard water is responsible for your skin itching and irritating.
Well water is called hard water because of its higher mineral and metal content. And these higher percentages of minerals and chemicals can cause your skin to itch and have rashes.
Common Well Water Contaminants That Can Irritate Your Skin
As described earlier, well water contaminants are responsible for skin itching, irritation, and rashes. Not all contaminants are responsible for skin-related issues, as few of them can potentially make your skin irritated and dry. Here are the details of those contaminants that can damage skin and cause itching and rashes.
Magnesium and Calcium in Well Water
Hard water contains dissolved salts of calcium and magnesium. We should have magnesium in our eating regimen to help our immune system, and calcium is significant for solid teeth and solid bones. While necessary for the body when present in our diet, these minerals are not very great when they are in tap water in high fixations and we bathe in them. Hard water disrupts the natural balance of oils on the skin.
People who live in areas with hard water are more vulnerable to skin irritations since they wash in the hard water consistently and expose their bodies to calcium and magnesium for longer periods.
Calcium and magnesium deposits on your skin change your skin chemistry and can obstruct pores and hair follicles. This diminishes the skin’s capacity to moisturize itself, causing you to feel irritated properly. Moreover, having delicate skin could make rashes break out your body parts where hard water mineral deposits end up.
Above all, if you are utilizing soaps and shower gels, this can make it worse. This is because the minerals always combine with the soaps. The subsequent cleanser buildup makes the clogs even worse and disturbs the skin barrier also. You will feel like your skin is perfect and smooth; however, the thing you are feeling is the soap filth on the outer layer of your skin.
Chlorine in Well Water
Chlorine is mostly used as a water cleaning agent. Chlorine is added to well water to kill harmful bacteria. Adding chlorine to drinking water is a safe way to disinfect it. Most people in the US have a safe limit of chlorine in their tap water. Excess of everything is bad, so an excessive amount of chlorine in water can lead to various health problems, including skin irritations.
Chlorinated water can cause skin itching and dryness. Besides this, chlorine in water can also absorb our skin oils, making it less moisturized and causing erythema. Besides the skin, excessive chlorine is also bad for our hair.
Arsenic in Well Water
Arsenic can get into well water because of the geological composition of your area. The consequences for your skin can be like those seen with hard water. Moreover, the effects can be much more dreadful, depending upon exposure and the amount of arsenic in the water.
Long-term use and exposure to arsenic water for bathing can cause rough and flaky patches on the skin. It can also increase the risk of skin cancer if you continue to use it.
Bacteria in Well Water
If you are using well water that isn’t filtered and cleaned in any capacity, you can contract skin sicknesses and conditions like erythrasma and pediculosis. Erythrasma is a condition that causes brown or blue-dark patches on the skin, while pediculosis prompts red, itchy rashes.
Well water pollution by microscopic organisms isn’t normal; however, it can happen if there is a break in the well casing seal where microorganisms could get inside. Diseases and infections from contaminated water normally happen when an open wound comes into contact with polluted water. People with diabetes are likewise in danger because of their lower resistance levels.
Pesticides in Well Water
Pesticides enter in water when certain crops are washed on which they are sprayed. It mostly happens in rural areas. If you have an open wound on your body, you are at higher risk of getting pesticide contaminants in your body.
Pesticides in water can cause various skin conditions, including rashes and itching. These pesticides also harm kidneys if they get inside the body through wounds.
How to Reduce Water Contaminants to Protect Your Skin?
Use Water Softeners
If you want to reduce the skin irritation caused by hard water, you should install a water softener system in your house. A water softener eliminates the minerals and chemicals that cause hardness in water, making the water soft. A water softener replaces the magnesium and calcium ions with sodium and removes water hardness.
Soft water is more conducive for the natural oils on your body to keep you moisturized. It helps reduce skin itching, irritation, and rashes.
Use Whole House Water Filters
Whole house water filters work exceptionally amazing to remove arsenic, pesticides, and other contaminants from well water that cause severe skin problems. It is installed at the entry point and provides filtered water to the entire house.
Carbon whole house filters are the best as they can remove chlorine, pesticides, herbicides, and other contaminants that can affect your skin.
Use Showerhead Filters
A showerhead filter is a good option if your only concern is the shower. This helps to filter the water when it comes from the tap and enters your shower. These showerhead filters filter all the dirt and contaminants. You have to add these showerhead filters to every shower in your house.
Use Reverse Osmosis (RO) Filters
A reverse osmosis filter can reduce the hardness of water and remove 98-99% of contaminants in your water. RO filters remove bacteria, viruses, arsenic, pesticides, and other contaminants. This system is installed at the point of entry can soft water can reach all taps and showers. These filters are more expensive than other filtration systems but provide good results in removing harmful minerals and chemicals from the water.
Final Thoughts
Well water has a high percentage of minerals and harmful chemicals that can cause skin irritation, itching, and rashes. To reduce water hardness to protect your skin, you can install a water filtration system in your house.
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