You get two today, because I missed a work day out:

Today's interesting fact has to do with Hard Water.

Hard water is considered hard because dissolved mineral content in the water.

When heated this mineral content can precipitate out, and forms the scale found in our kettles and other water heating equipment.

When it comes to cooking, plumbing, washing clothes, boiling kettles, heating water, electric showers and bathing or showering, people don't like hard water.

Part of this dislike comes from the dissolved ions in hard water that makes it hard react with the chemicals in soap to create a sticky scum or curd, which is then left on the skin, clothing, surfaces or hair.

Clothes and sheets washed in hard water often feel rough or even harsh to touch.

But hard water can be good for your health in a number of ways.

A study done in 1984 states:

'New results based on changes that have taken place in water hardness and in cardiovascular death rates between 1961 and 1971 in the county boroughs of England and Wales indicate a significant trend for men, in the direction of decreasing cardiovascular mortality with increasing hardness, but no trend for women. The trend in male mortality appears to be specific to cardiovascular disease. The results are similar to those of the earlier study and support the hypothesis of a weak causal relationship between the hardness of drinking water and mortality from cardiovascular disease.'

With fewer people drinking milk and eating milk by-products, studies have also suggested that hard water be an important source of the calcium and magnesium needed in our diet.

So while soft water can be good for washing clothes, hard water might be better for you to drink.