Decalcify water: How to get lime-free drinking water

There are many reasons to descale water. Among other things, lime will permanently contaminate your kitchen appliances and will not taste good in drinking water. This practical tip shows you how to remove lime from the water.

Why descale water

Decalcifying water makes sense especially if the drinking water contains a high proportion of lime. The degree of water hardness varies from region to region.

• Lime contains the minerals magnesium and calcium. Both are necessary for a healthy body. You don't have to descale the water for your own health.
• However, too much lime in the water is harmful to household appliances. Because the lime sticks in the devices and leads to blockages of hoses or damage in the electronics.
• Coffee machines, dishwashers and washing machines are particularly affected.

Decalcify water: Decalcify water when cooking

The easiest way to get rid of lime is to simply boil the water.

• Use either a common saucepan or the kettle.
• After boiling, pour the water through a coffee filter. This catches the lime.
• If you want to be particularly sure that there is no lime in the water, repeat this process several times.
• Kettles quickly collect a lot of lime. The residue can end up in tea or coffee. You can get rid of this stubborn lime with special descaling products.

Decalcify water with filter system

If the water is particularly calcareous, filter systems help to remove limescale immediately.

• Connect a filter system directly to your tap. The cleaning takes place via the ion exchange. Here the calcium and magnesium of the lime are exchanged for sodium ions. That makes the water softer.
• If you want to equip the entire house or business premises with a system, you have to expect a purchase price of 1, 000 to 2, 500 euros. In this case, the filter system is attached to the water connection of your house.

Descale with a table water filter

With a table water filter, drinking water in particular can be decalcified quickly and safely. Table water filters carry out the ion exchange with activated carbon.

• In addition to lime, they also remove chlorine, copper and lead from drinking water.
• The table water filter is a jug in which a filter cartridge hangs.
• The dirt is caught in this cartridge, which is why it should be replaced regularly.

In the next article you will read about the properties of water.