What is hard water?
Water that falls as precipitation takes in mineral and salts from the ground that include calcium and magnesium.  Water classified as “hard” water contains large quantities of the minerals calcium and magnesium.
Water in Israel has been classified as hard to very hard water.  Hard water is healthy because it is rich in calcium and magnesium, vital to health.  Increased consumption of water in general, and mineral-rich hard water in particular, is recommended and is important for preserving health. 

What is the connection between hard water and limescale?
As mentioned, hard water is rich in the dissolved minerals of calcium and magnesium.  Calcium crystallizes into hard stone (calcite) at temperatures exceeding 57º C, and is better known as limescale.
It is at this stage that we observe limescale, which until now took the form of calcium dissolved in water.  Limescale may also be found at lower temperatures, without displaying signs.
Hard water, although beneficial and vital to our health, damages piping, heating elements in boilers, kettles, washing machines, solar collectors, faucets, and other facilities.       

Some facts about calcium

• Calcium is the fifth most commonly found element in soil, in the atmosphere, and in the ocean.  It is actually a soft metal, discovered in 1808 by an English scientist.
• The source of the layer of stone that forms in kettles after boiling are calcium salts, which easily dissolve and penetrate their way through soil into underground water reservoirs.  They also reach tap water, evaporating during boiling and leaving behind a residue of stone in heating utensils.
• Our bodies contain on the average about 2% calcium.  Ninety-nine percent of the calcium is found in the skeleton and teeth, the rest found in the blood and other body tissues. Calcium mostly makes up our bones; a shortage of the element results in rickets.
• Calcium is vital to many bodily processes including the relay of neurological signals, muscle contraction, and blood clotting.
• Calcium is found not only in cheeses, but also in green vegetables, tehina, whole-wheat bread, but is far more commonly in water—therefore it is highly recommended to drink regular tap water.
• A shortage or reduction in calcium can lead to osteoporosis.

Some Facts about Magnesium

• Indirectly responsible for reducing incidence of cancer.
• Vital to health of bones.
• Assists in the proper functioning of the nervous system and muscles.
• Assists in recovery from heart disease.
• Helps reduce cholesterol levels in the blood.
• Delays the onset of age-related disease such as: infection, sensitivity of the prostate gland, tooth decay.  A lack of magnesium can lead to softening and weakening of the bones, impaired sexual function, and muscle spasms and tremors. 

  Some facts about zinc

• Activates growth, reproduction, and sexual hormones.
• Renews cells and tissue, fingernails, and hair.
• Effective in preventing arthritis.
• Assists in creating digestive enzymes and slowing the aging process.

about the minerals