hard water

noun

1. water that contains magnesium, calcium, or iron salts and therefore forms a soap lather with difficulty.

hard water

1. Water in which dissolved minerals make it difficult to produce a lather with soap.

Notes

Hard water is usually associated with well water in regions where the rocks contain a large proportion of iron-bearing minerals .

Example Sentences

Minerals from hard water can clog the holes of your showerhead, leading to reduced water pressure.

From Washington Post

In the best of times, it’s not a perfectly efficient system, so for each gallon of soft water it produces, it also dumps some additional hard water because of how it works.

From Ozy

Severne arose in a cold room, washed his face in hard water, and descended to breakfast.

From Project Gutenberg

Most of the water thus obtained is hard water, from its limestone qualities, but it is most unquestionably healthy.

From Project Gutenberg

Hard water frequently becomes softer after it has been boiled for some time.

From Project Gutenberg

Seeing then the disadvantages attendant on the use of hard water, it remains to be considered how best to soften it.

From Project Gutenberg

Hard water decomposes soap, and cannot be efficiently used for washing.

From Project Gutenberg