What’s Actually in Your Tap Water (And Why It Matters)
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Turn on any tap in Australia and clean water comes out. It’s safe to drink, meets all the standards, and generally does everything water is supposed to do. But that doesn’t mean it’s just pure H2O flowing through the pipes. There’s a whole collection of dissolved minerals, treatment chemicals, and various other substances that come along for the ride. Most of the time this doesn’t matter much. Other times it matters quite a bit, just not always in ways that are immediately obvious.
The composition of tap water varies considerably depending on where it comes from and how it gets treated. Two houses in the same suburb might have noticeably different water quality based on which treatment plant serves them or what pipes the water travels through to reach the property. Understanding what’s actually in the water helps explain a lot of household problems that seem unrelated to water quality at first glance.
The Minerals That Build Up Everywhere
Calcium and magnesium are the main culprits behind what gets called hard water. These minerals dissolve into water as it moves through rock and soil before getting collected for treatment. The treatment process removes a lot of things but typically leaves most of these minerals in place because they’re not harmful to health in normal concentrations.
The problem is they don’t stay dissolved when water gets heated or when it evaporates. That’s when the minerals precipitate out and form scale. This shows up as white crusty deposits in kettles, the chalky film on shower glass, and the buildup inside pipes and hot water systems. In areas with particularly hard water, this accumulation happens quickly and affects everything that water touches.
Hot water systems take the biggest hit from mineral buildup. The heating element or heat exchanger operates at high temperatures, which accelerates scale formation. Over time this insulating layer of mineral deposits makes the system work harder to heat water, increases energy costs, and eventually contributes to system failure. The unit might be well maintained otherwise, but the scale buildup creates problems that look exactly the same as a system that’s just worn out.
Perth’s water is notably hard compared to many other Australian cities, which makes mineral content a bigger consideration for households. Options such as water filtration systems perth address this by removing or reducing minerals before they can cause buildup, which extends the life of appliances and reduces the constant cleaning battle against scale deposits.
Chlorine and Its Relatives
Water treatment relies heavily on chlorine or chloramine to kill bacteria and other microorganisms. This is essential for keeping water safe as it travels through the distribution system. By the time water reaches a house, chlorine levels are low enough to be safe for consumption, but they’re still present and still doing their job.
The noticeable effect of chlorine is the taste and smell. Some people are more sensitive to it than others, but that characteristic swimming pool quality in tap water comes from chlorine compounds. What’s less obvious is how chlorine affects other things. It can dry out skin and hair, particularly for people who shower frequently or have sensitivity to chemicals. It also affects the taste of beverages made with tap water, from tea and coffee to anything mixed or cooked.
Chlorine breaks down relatively quickly when exposed to air, which is why leaving water in an open container for a while reduces the chlorine taste. But this doesn’t help with water being used immediately, and it doesn’t address chloramine, which is more stable and doesn’t dissipate as easily.
The Stuff That Comes From the Pipes Themselves
Water doesn’t just carry what was in it when it left the treatment plant. It picks up additional material from the pipes it travels through, both in the street and inside the house. Older homes with galvanized steel or copper pipes can have noticeable metal content in their water, particularly first thing in the morning after water has been sitting in the pipes overnight.
Copper isn’t harmful in small amounts but can affect taste and leave blue-green stains on sinks and fixtures. Iron from aging pipes creates rusty-looking water and stains everything it touches. These issues vary dramatically from house to house based on plumbing age and materials. Two identical houses built at different times can have completely different water quality coming out of the taps purely because of what the pipes are made from.
New homes aren’t immune either. Construction debris, flux from soldering, and other contaminants can remain in new plumbing for months after installation. The water looks clean but contains particles and chemicals that gradually flush out over time.
Seasonal and Source Variations
Water quality isn’t constant throughout the year. During heavy rain, increased runoff brings more organic matter and sediment into reservoirs. Treatment plants adjust their processes to handle this, which can mean higher chlorine levels or different chemical balances in the treated water. Dry periods concentrate minerals and other dissolved substances as water levels drop.
The source of water also matters. Perth draws from multiple sources including dams, groundwater, and desalination. Each source has different mineral content and requires different treatment approaches. When the system shifts between sources or blends them in different ratios based on availability, the resulting water quality changes. Most people don’t notice day-to-day variations, but the cumulative effects show up in how quickly scale forms, how appliances perform, and how water tastes.
Effects on Appliances Beyond Hot Water Systems
Washing machines, dishwashers, and coffee makers all deal with the same water quality issues that affect hot water systems, just in different ways. Hard water requires more detergent to work effectively and leaves mineral deposits on dishes and clothing. The heating elements in dishwashers and washing machines accumulate scale just as hot water system elements do, leading to reduced efficiency and earlier failure.
Coffee machines and kettles show the effects most visibly because scale builds up where everyone can see it. But the same process happens inside any appliance that heats water. The expensive espresso machine that should last ten years might only make it five because of mineral buildup in the boiler and heating elements. This looks exactly the same as a cheap machine wearing out, so the real cause often goes unrecognized.
The Practical Impact on Daily Life
Water quality affects household routines in ways that become so normal they don’t get questioned. The constant scrubbing of shower glass to remove water spots, the regular descaling of the kettle, the soap scum that forms in the bathroom, all of these trace back to what’s dissolved in the water. Homes in areas with better water quality simply don’t deal with these issues as much.
Skin and hair respond to water quality too. Hard water interferes with soap and shampoo, making them less effective and leaving residue. Chlorine dries out skin and can irritate sensitive skin conditions. People often attribute these effects to the products they’re using rather than the water itself, but switching soaps and shampoos only helps so much when the underlying water quality is working against them.
Understanding What Matters
Not every substance in tap water causes problems worth worrying about. The water is safe to drink and meets health standards. But the dissolved minerals, treatment chemicals, and pipe-derived contaminants do create practical issues that add up over time. Appliances don’t last as long, cleaning takes more effort, and the water itself doesn’t taste or feel as good as it could.
The specific water quality in any house depends on multiple factors, from the original source through treatment and distribution to the internal plumbing. What matters most is understanding which issues are actually affecting the household and whether addressing them makes practical sense given the problems they cause. For many homes, the cumulative effects of poor water quality cost more in appliance repairs, replacement, and extra cleaning effort than dealing with the water quality itself would cost. That’s when looking at what’s actually in the water and doing something about it starts making real financial and practical sense.