From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water#Hard_water_in_the_US
According to the United States Geological Survey, 89.3% of US homes have hard water. The softest waters occur in parts of the New England, South Atlantic-Gulf, Pacific Northwest, and Hawaii regions. Moderately hard waters are common in many of the rivers of the Tennessee, Great Lakes, Pacific Northwest, and Alaska regions. Hard and very hard waters are found in some of the streams in most of the regions throughout the country. Hardest waters (greater than 1,000 mg/L) are in streams in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Arizona, and southern California.
Grains Per
Gallon |
Miligrams
Per Liter (mg/l)
or Parts Per
Million (ppm) |
Rating |
| less than 1.0 |
less than 17.1 |
Soft |
| 1.0 - 3.5 |
17.1 - 60 |
Slightly Hard |
| 3.5 - 7.0 |
60 - 120 |
Moderately Hard |
| 7.0 - 10.5 |
120 - 180 |
Hard |
| over 10.5 |
over 180 |
Very Hard |
We find that water ionizers don't work well with water that is harder than 12 grains of hardness, although the KYK Harmony has worked with up to 16 grains before.
If you have hard water, our general guidelines are: 12 grains (205 mg/l) or lower = fine, don't need prefilter
13 (223.3 mg/l) to 16 grains (273.6 mg/l) -- you need at least a hard water prefilter from our prefilter product listing.
17 grains of hardness (290.7 mg/l) or higher: needs two hard water prefilters and a remineralizing prefilter to replace scale with soluable minerals, or a water softener, preferably magnetic.
Since water ionization is based on electrolyzing soluble minerals in your water, there is also the issue of not having enough soluble minerals. Soluble minerals are minerals that are dissolved in the water. Sometimes a water softener will take out too much of the natural soluble minerals in your water, so you need to replace them. You can add some crumbled up coral calcium tablets to the Harmony's mineral port, which you can buy at most health food stores. Or if the crumbled coral calcium isn't enough, you can get a remineralizing prefilter, which is a prefilter filled with coral calcium, again from our prefilter product listing.
Our goal with the KYK Harmony is to get a blue result with the pH regent kits we send with the unit -- which is about a 9 to 9.5 pH. If we can't help you get to that level, then we will offer you a full refund, no restocking fee. It hasn't come to this yet. We always get to blue.
To test your water for hardness and other contaminants, we recommend http://www.discovertesting.com/
For more information on hard water, please read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water#Hard_water_in_the_US
Also please read: http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/housing/356-490/356-490.html
