>>107In places without a municipal water system, one of the most common ways to get water is from a private well. This goes down to the aquifer and pumps up water. Water can dissolve a lot of substances and the amount dissolves depends on the minerals in the local rock type. Water treatment plants take out most of the minerals before they reach the consumer, but because the well has no treatment plant it keeps all the minerals. Water that has a lot of minerals in it is called hard water, and the most common minerals in it are magnesium, calcium, and iron. A water softener is like a small treatment plant and it “softens” the water by taking out most of the minerals using salts. Hard water is almost always safe, but the minerals do have a smell and can leave small deposits around faucets (called hard water stains), which makes it worth it to soften the water. Some people even have softeners while having municipal water if the local water has a high amount of minerals or they are sensitive.