Edmonton’s municipal water typically tests between 165 and 200 mg/L of total hardness, which puts it firmly in the ‘hard’ range. That number moves through the year as river conditions change, so the scale you notice in February may look different in August.
Hardness is simply dissolved calcium and magnesium. On its own it isn’t a health concern, but every time hard water is heated those minerals drop out of solution and bond to whatever they touch — the inside of your hot water tank, the heating element in your dishwasher, the fine passages inside a tankless heater.
The most common signs homeowners describe to us are white crust around faucets and shower heads, spotted glassware straight out of the dishwasher, soap that never quite lathers, and skin that feels tight after a shower. Those are all hardness symptoms, not cleaning problems.
A softener exchanges those hardness minerals for a very small amount of sodium, so the water reaching your plumbing has nothing left to deposit. Appliances last longer, cleaning products go further, and the difference in the shower is usually noticed the first day.
If you want the specifics for your own address, we test on site during a free water quality review and walk you through the results in plain language — no obligation attached.