OF HAED AND SOFT WATEE. 103 



waste. In washing there is, therefore, a very decided economical 

 advantage in using soft water. 



But this is by no means the only advantage. However much, 

 soap we may use with hard water, the pores of the skin cannot be 

 thoroughly cleansed and thus left open as they are with soft 

 water. The lather which is obtained with cither, after much 

 waste of soap in hard water, with no such waste in soft water, 

 should be removed from the skin in order to leave the cuticle in a 

 healthy state. Einsing with soft water at once removes it and 

 leaves the skin soft and with open pores, in the most healthy state 

 possible ; rinsing with hard water clogs the pores of the skin with 

 insoluble, greasy, curdy matter, the combination of the lime in the 

 water with the fatty acids in the soap, and leaves the skin in an 

 unhealthy and uncomfortable state. Moreover, to habitually wash 

 the face with hard water ruins the complexion, and the excessive 

 use of soap which hard water renders necessary is also bad for it, 

 facts of which most ladies are probably well aware. In our 

 personal ablutions soft water has, therefore, a sanitary and aesthetic 

 as well as an economical advantage over hard water. 



In washing clothes with hard water it is necessary to soften the 

 water before the soap can have the requisite detergent effect. 

 Soap is too expensive to be used as the softening agent in this 

 operation. Carbonate of soda (the so-called "washing soda") 

 answers the pui'pose well, and is not only much less expensive 

 than soap, but a smaller quantity is required to produce the same 

 effect. It is therefore generally used. Its action is to combine 

 with a portion of the carbonic acid gas in the soluble bicarbonate 

 of lime, to the presence of which the hardness of the water is due, 

 converting this bicarbonate of lime into the insoluble monocarbonate 

 of lime, and also producing a bicarbonate of soda, which remains 

 in solution, adding to the detergent effect of the sottened water. 

 This action may be thus expressed : — calcium-bicarbonate + 

 sodium-carbonate = calcium-carbonate + sodium-bicarbonate. In 

 using soft water for washing clothes, not only is the expense of the 

 carbonate of soda saved, but the wear and tear on the linen is also 

 greatly reduced. 



Soft water is far more economical than hard water in cooking 

 our food. There is considerable waste with hard water, for not 

 only is it longer in producing the required effect, whether upon 

 meat or vegetables, but the calcareous hardening matter damages 

 the quality of the food. The saving effected in making tea with 

 soft water is almost too well known to require mentioning. 



The great economical advantage of soft water over hard water 

 is not, it must be admitted, a question open to dispute. 



The amount of soap which water can destroy is the test of its 

 degree of hardness, which is measured by shaking up a standard 

 soap-solution in a given quantity of water. The soap-solution is 

 added to the water until on shaking it a permanent lather (one 

 which will remain for about five minutes) is obtained. Thus 

 a water is said to possess one degree of hardness when its 



