It's easy to tell if a house has hard water that isn't being treated. You’ll see the effects in your shower with soaps that are hard to lather, according to top-rated Houston plumbing company Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. You’ll also see white residue or crystals around the spray tips of your dishwasher, filmy soap scum in the shower and hard water lines around the bathtub.

If you notice these things around your home, it’s a good sign that you’ve got hard water, which is water with high mineral content. So what’s the trouble with hard water? While it’s not harmful to the human body, it does leave a soap scum residue on your skin that clogs your pores and makes your hair limp.

In addition, it can lead to other undesirable effects throughout your household. The minerals in hard water can build up and wear on appliances and fixtures, says Steve Kniess of Indianapolis plumbing company Gordon Plumbing Inc. He went on to explain that in washing machines, hard water can lead to issues such as clogs and weak water pressure. In water heaters, it can cause corrosion and decreased efficiency. It can also cause the finishes of older fixtures to delaminate.

On top of those cosmetic and operational problems hard water can cause, it also can reduce the cleaning effects of a variety of cleaning supplies.

To eliminate hard water, homeowners should talk to a top-rated plumber found on Angie's List about reverse osmosis or water softeners. Either of these will help appliances last longer and be more efficient, make soaps become more sudsy, keep hair look lustrous and full, and more.

To better understand how water softeners work check out this Hard Facts of Water Softeners infographic and see the benefits of reducing the amount of minerals in your water.