Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with "soft water").
Hard drinking water is generally not harmful to one's health, but can pose serious problems in industrial settings, where water hardness is monitored to avoid costly breakdowns in boilers, cooling towers, and other equipment that handles water. In domestic settings, hard water is often indicated by a lack of suds formation when soap is agitated in water. Wherever water hardness is a concern, water softening is commonly used to reduce hard water's adverse effects.
Read more about Hard Water: Sources of Hardness, Effects of Hard Water, Measurement
Famous quotes containing the words hard and/or water:
“Lovers remain in the dark, working hard to keep out daylight.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Dying smokers sense
Walking towards them through some dappled park
As if on water that unfocused she
No match lit up, nor drag ever brought near....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)