How Well Water and City Water Affect Your Hair
When we first moved from the city to the country and I realized we would have well water, I was beyond excited! I’m a bit of a health nut, so getting away from water treated with chemicals was a big deal to me. But I had no idea of the effect it would have on my hair health!
Let’s start with some differences between well water and city water.
Where Does Well Water Come From?
Well water is untreated and comes from underground aquifers. When rain falls, most of it is absorbed into the ground. Water that’s not absorbed by plants, moves downward through layers of soil and rock with water flowing through small pores. The water trapped in these pores and spaces is called groundwater, or aquifers. This is the water we get when we drill wells.
How is City Water Treated?
City water mostly comes from lakes and rivers that must be treated. After the water has been filtered, water treatment plants typically add chemical disinfectants, such as chlorine and chloramine, to kill any remaining parasites, bacteria, or viruses.
Now that we know the difference between well and city water, let’s dive into how each can affect our hair.
Well Water
Well water is notoriously known to be hard water. Hard water has a high mineral content and water stored in the ground will take on the elements of the soil surrounding it. Making it – drum roll, please – HARD WATER!
What is Hard Water?
Signs of hard water include reddish-brown stains on toilet bowls and shower drains or chalky white residue on faucets and showerheads. Water with high mineral content can cause scale buildup which can result in damage to plumbing and appliances, residue spots on dishes, and even dry skin and hair. I definitely noticed this with my skin and hair when we first moved here.
What minerals are in hard water?
The most common minerals found in well water are sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, and sulfate. The combination of these chemicals can be very toxic to the health of your hair. The minerals produce a film on your hair, making it difficult for your hair to retain moisture making it dry, brittle, and prone to breakage. Since these minerals can prevent your hair from retaining moisture, they may also make the scalp dry and prone to irritation. Especially if you have sensitive skin.
The high levels of these salts can also have adverse effects on the health of your hair. Sodium deposits can build up around the hair follicles and prevent important nutrients from entering them. When your hair follicles don’t get the nutrients they need, hair loss can gradually occur. Um.. no thank you!
So what can you do if you have well water? The good news is that there is plenty you can do to care for your hair!
What Can You Do?
The best solution would be to install a water softener. When we moved into our house, there was a water softener already installed, but it was so old, it wasn’t doing anything to help the water hardness. We eventually installed a newer one and now we have amazingly soft water.
If installing a water softener isn’t in your budget, don’t worry, there are many other affordable options. We had to wait 2 years before we could purchase a new one, so here is a list of options that helped me to prevent further damage to my hair.
Well Water Solutions
- Clarifying Shampoo – Using a clarifying shampoo a few times a week will help to reduce the mineral build-up in your hair.
- Chelating Shampoo – These give you more of a “detox” than clarifying shampoos. Chelating shampoos contain ingredients like disodium EDTA, citric acid, ascorbic acid, and other acids to form bonds with mineral deposits and wash them away which regular shampoos cannot do. I found I had to use these with well water as the clarifying shampoos just weren’t enough.
- Leave-in Conditioner – I would spray my hair with leave-in conditioner every time I got out of the shower. This helped to prevent the dry frizzy look I loathe. I actually still use this from time to time.
- Coconut Oil Hair Masks – Once a week use a deep conditioner hair mask that you sleep in or leave on for at least 20 minutes to help restore your hair’s moisture.
- Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse – Doing this 1-2 times per week will help with smoothness and shine. Just be careful not to overdo it as it can be drying (which is already an issue with hard water).
- Bottled Water – If you’re really concerned about the effects of well water on your hair, you can always use purified water to wash your hair.
City Water
Now let’s dive into the effects of city water on our hair health. As I already mentioned, there are 2 main harsh chemicals that city water is typically treated with Chlorine and Chloramine.
Chlorine strips hair of its natural oils, leaving it dry and brittle. Regular exposure to chlorine can make your hair highly porous, meaning it leaves the cuticle layer open weakening your hair and resulting in split ends. It also dries out your skin and scalp, increasing the appearance of dandruff.
No one wants that!
what if you dye your hair?
If you have colored treated hair, chlorine will bond with the artificial color and draw it out quickly causing it to fade. Have you ever seen someone with blonde hair turn green after swimming in a chlorinated pool?
It’s me.
I’m the blonde who once had green hair after swimming in a pool. That was a fun day. Ha! Luckily there usually isn’t enough chlorine in city water to do too much damage to color-treated hair, but it is worth noting.
Chloramine can also deplete your hair of natural oils, leaving it dry and brittle. When your hair is dehydrated, it loses elasticity and shine. With both Chloramine and Chlorine being drying for hair, it would be a good idea to give your hair an extra boost of moisture every now and then.
What else could be in city water?
In addition to these chemicals, some city’s tap water may also contain some minerals such as oxidizers, calcium, magnesium, silica, and iron. These minerals can leave residue on the skin and hair causing buildup, dryness, and irritation.
Now that we know what we’re dealing with for city water, we can look at possible solutions. Many of the solutions are the same for well water, but there are a few others.
City Water Solutions
- Shower Head Filter – There are many excellent shower head filters out there that remove chlorine and heavy metals from tap water.
- Clarifying Shampoo – Using a clarifying shampoo in addition to your regular shampoo a few times a week will help to reduce any build-up in your hair.
- Leave-in Conditioner – I like to spray my hair with leave-in conditioner every so often when I get out of the shower.
- Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse – Doing this 1-2 times per week will help with smoothness and shine. Just be careful not to overdo it as it can be drying.
- Bottled Water – If you’re really concerned about the effects of tap water on your hair, you can always use purified water to wash your hair.
It may sound like you have a real problem with both well or city water, but as someone who has used both regularly, I assure you that you do not. If you take the right steps to protect your hair, you will have no issues maintaining your lovely locks.
If you’re currently living in the city and considering moving to the country like I did, check out my 8 Things to Consider When Moving From the City to the Country post. These are definitely things I wish I knew!
What are some other methods you use to protect your hair? Let me know in the comments!
Related Posts:
Things to Consider When Moving from the City to the Country
10 Benefits of Slow Living
How to Embrace Slow Mornings
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Wow! What an informative, great post!! I had no idea (really) about the difference between tap water and well water aside from well water probably not including chlorine and fluoride. I never thought about how either option would affect my hair!
I’m going to look into the shower head filters you mentioned!
I’m so glad you found it helpful!
This is so interesting. Thank you for sharing!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!