How Water Quality Affects Your Skin and Hair

People often blame a new shampoo when the real change was the water. On a city supply the usual culprit is the disinfectant, and the pipes the water travels through.

Sediment and old pipework. In older buildings, water can pick up sediment and rust on the way up from the street. It dulls the shower and stains fixtures, and it has nothing to do with the supply itself.

Chlorine strips. Municipal water carries a disinfectant residual for good reason, but chlorine also strips the natural oils that keep skin and hair conditioned. In a long hot shower, that adds up.

What changes when you treat it. Carbon filtration removes the chlorine before it reaches the shower head, and a sediment stage catches what the building's pipes add. Most households notice the shower difference within a day or two, well before they notice anything else.

If you have moved recently and your skin changed, test the water before you replace your whole bathroom cabinet.