Although drinking hard water has no adverse effects on your health, it does not taste pleasant. It has a metallic taste to it that you might find repelling. So, how to make hard water taste better?
You can make hard water taste better by:
- Adding fruit slices.
- Adding fresh juices.
- Using ice.
- Adding a water-softening agent.
Through these methods, you can add a sense of freshness and coolness to hard water and enjoy drinking it.
Water’s taste plays a crucial role in determining your daily hydration. If the water doesn’t taste nice, you’ll not drink much, and that’s not good! So, let’s learn how to make hard water taste better without further ado!
Read my comprehensive article about what hard water is.
Table of Contents
How Does Hard Water Taste?
Surprisingly, many people find hard water to taste good when it has lower concentrations of dissolved minerals, such as calcium and magnesium.
However, as the concentration of these minerals increases, the taste begins to change, and it gets more difficult to drink hard water.
| Water | Concentration of minerals (calcium and magnesium) mg/L |
| Soft | 0-62 |
| Moderate | 65-120 |
| Hard | 125-180 |
| Very Hard | >185 |
Many people describe hard water as tasting like chalk water. This is primarily due to calcium and magnesium salts dissolved in the water that alter its smell resulting in the water tasting like chalk.
One way to tackle this is to filter the hard water to remove any chalky materials, and that would make the water taste normal.
Additionally, if the hard water is poorly filtered, you may even find pieces of limestone in your mouth while drinking the water, which can taste unfavorable. It makes you think twice before drinking hard water next time, and you might compromise your daily water intake.
How to Make Hard Water Taste Better?
If you’re tired of that metallic aftertaste you’re left with after drinking a glass of water, we know what it’s like. In that regard, we’ve listed four simple ways to make hard water taste better.
Additionally, by following these methods, you can add freshness and coolness to your hard water too. Let’s learn these methods!
1. Add Drops of Fresh Juice
You see, the main obstruction in your path to good-tasting hard water is the smell or chalk-like taste of the water.
What if you superimpose another ingredient with a much better smelling and strong aroma to overcome the bad-tasting hard water? One of the simplest answers is a few drops of fresh juice.
A few drops will literally add magic to your chalk-tasting hard water and make it taste better and fresh.
All you need to do is get some fresh juice drops from the market and add them to your hard water containers so that you don’t have to add them every time you drink water.
2. Add Ice
Everything tastes better with ice. Drinking chocolate milk? Put some ice in it. Drinking a soda? Put some ice in it. Similarly, if you’re drinking hard water—you guessed it right; put some ice in it!
Ice actually has a flavorful effect on water and masks the weird taste of hard water. Adding ice to hard water allows you to enjoy a cool drink and forget the unpleasant taste of magnesium and calcium salts.
You can add some natural sweeteners to your iced water if you want. These sweeteners won’t add sugar or calories to the water, rather, they will give it a flavorful taste.
3. Add Fruit Slices
This is probably the most commonly used method for adding taste to hard water. You can cut up some of your favorite fruit into pieces and add them to a jug full of hard water.
The next step is to leave the fruit and water-filled jug in a refrigerator overnight and then check the water the next day.
The water in the jug would now have a fruity yummy taste that you will definitely enjoy drinking.
Every time you drink that water, you will find yourself to be infused with freshness. Usually, people use citrus fruits to add to their drinks, but you can use other fruits such as lemons, mint, strawberries, etc.
4. Add a Water Softener
Water softeners are chemical materials that can remove the hardness-causing minerals from hard water. The easiest option is to install an under-sink water softener.
A water softener would work exactly as its name suggests. It would soften the hard water by removing the minerals and make it drinkable by normalizing its taste.
The best part about these water softeners is that they are maintenance-free, and you can soften hard water for all purposes by using these. Be it washing or drinking, water softeners can be your one true friend when it comes to using hard water.
Apart from these, you can also install a water-softening filter that’ll be a more permanent solution. While if you’re looking for a permanent fix, boiling it will do!
Read my ultimate guide to water softeners.
FAQs
Does Water Hardness Affect Taste?
Water hardness affects the taste, but the effect is usually minimal. The minerals that cause hardness have a metallic taste that you can easily sense. However, if it bothers you, you can definitely use any of the methods mentioned above to make it taste better.
Can Drinking Hard Water Make You Sick?
Drinking hard water has no side effects on your body, and it is safe to drink. Some research has shown it adds to your calcium and magnesium body stores, making it beneficial for your health.
People generally don’t prefer hard water because it is more of a problem when it comes to plumbing rather than a health issue.
Hard water contributes to mineral buildup in water lines, choking the pipelines. Read my article – Why Does Water Make Me Nauseous.
How Do You Get Rid of the Hard Water Taste?
To get rid of the hard water taste, install a water softener in your kitchen or under the sink. These water softeners would remove minerals from the water, softening it in the process.
You can also install a water-softening filter to do all the work for you. But if you want a temporary fix, boiling hard water softens it for some time.
Final Thoughts
Water’s taste is as essential to it as water is to us! So, ensuring that it tastes nice goes a long way. With the methods mentioned above, you can easily make your hard water taste better.
But these are just temporary solutions, and we would rather recommend that you find a clean source of soft water to drink from.
However, the next time you are stuck with hard water and want to taste it better, you know exactly what to do.
Adding fruity mixtures to your drinking water sounds like a bold step, but it’s fun and exciting!
So, give it a shot and let us know how it works out in the comments!