Hard water—do you have
Before you can decide what to do
about hard water, you need to
know if you have it and, if so, how
hard it is.
●
If you live in a municipal area,
contact your water company.
●
If you live in a rural area, or in
some suburban areas, contact your
county agent.
The answer will be “you have ‘so
many grains’ per gallon” and
means this:
O to 3 grains per
4 to
11 to 19
20
and
If your water is
you have no
problem. You can use soap or
detergent as you prefer and forget
about hard water. If you have
water—less than 10
grains-and you use phosphate
detergent, you
have no
problem.
But, if you have more than 10
grains, you
need to soften your
water with either...
1.
water softener in
your home, or
2. The use of a packaged water
softener.
For information on water
softeners, see chart below.
Add this much water softener with a full water
Grains of
hardness
o-1o
10-15
15-20
20-25
25-30
over
30
When using
‘/4
cup
‘/2
c u p
cup
1 cup
1 cup plus 1 tbs. for every 5
with detergent
(60 ml)
(120
(160 ml)
(240 ml)
grains above 30 (240 ml plus
15 ml for each extra 5 grains)
11/,
tbs. for every 5
When using
‘/3
cup
cup
cup
1 cup
cup
with soap
(80 ml)
(160 ml)
(180 ml)
(240 ml)
(360 ml)
grains above 30 (300 ml plus
15 ml for each extra 5 grains)
16