Friday, September 29, 2006

Calcium in the water ...

Something that has stunned me about Antwerp is the water quality ... it's responsible for the dry tangled hair and dry skin.

I've always been someone who has avoided beauty regimes that involve more than a little moisturiser on the face but here you have to do so much more because it has become a matter of saving hair and skin quality.

I knew it was the water but not the why of it.

I met javacurls at Cindy's party last night and while reading her blog this morning, I found this ... all is explained.

The calcium build up is just insane! I never knew Calcium could be so damaging to a home. I googled "Calcium" and read this information from Wikipedia...

"Using soap on the body in hard water can cause the formation of a scum often referred to as “curd.” The formation of scum and curd is caused when calcium and magnesium form insoluble salts with anions (usually the stearates and other higher carboxylates found in soaps. This curd remains on the skin even after rinsing, clogging pores and coating body hair. This can serve as a medium for bacterial growth, causing nappy rash, minor skin irritation and skin that looks dry and continually itches. Similarly, the insoluble salts that get left behind from using regular shampoo in hard water tend to leave hair rougher and harder to detangle."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure if this is common knowledge, but the Antwerp tap water origin is the Albert Channel, a 'very busy waterway" between Antwerp and Liege. Not exactly spring quality.

I tested my local tap water (and we both have the same AWW supplier) and it rated 8, which is acceptable, but still, there is a moderate amount of Calcium in the water you drink.

And rest assured, it's not the kind of calcium that builds strong bones :-)

Di Mackey said...

Sigh, that's yucky ...!

I don't drink the tap water, it's all bottled in my world but I cook in it and obviously shower in it.

I wanted to go home today, I just needed to see a Mount Cook sunrise from Glentanner Station, alone in the empty place with a hot cup of coffee keeping me warm.

Knowing the water comes from a 'very busy waterway' makes me sad.