Introduction + Key Professional Insight
Many people living with eczema or other dry-skin conditions notice that their symptoms flare up more in hard-water areas. Limescale can leave skin feeling tight, itchy or irritated — especially in children or anyone with sensitive skin. Softened water can feel gentler, allowing soap to rinse away more easily and helping skin retain its natural moisture.
A professional note from Hydroworks:
"Not all water softeners perform the same.
Some water softeners struggle to reach — and maintain — full softness over time. If you live in an area where the water isn’t extremely hard to begin with, the wrong type of softener may never deliver the full benefits you’re hoping for. Choosing the right system is absolutely critical to get consistently soft water (down to 0 ° hardness) and to see the best possible results for your skin.
Will softened water help me?
Read two recent customer testimonials about their experiences with softened water below:
For many years, customer feedback has told us that the installation of a water softener has been transformational, in most cases.
It is, however, important to note that a water softener cannot be guaranteed to work in every case, but here are two clients of ours who have recently fed back their experiences to us via a review site:
Gary Luxumburg-Chalon, Haywards Heath (now Brighton), West Sussex
When Gary first had his softener fitted, they lived in the softer water area of Haywards Heath, Sussex. As most water softeners tend to produce blended soft water (over time), it was critically important that we did not opt for a typical type of softener. In his case, as I do in almost all cases of Eczema conditions, I opted for a particular type of softener that guaranteed completely soft water, ALL of the time. In my professional opinion, this is something our sector doesn't normally understand very well.
Improving his skin gave them so much confidence that Gary later decided to move to the even harder water area of Brighton & Hove, so that they could be closer to their preferred area. All we did was move their softener from their home in Haywards Heath down to their new Hove home.
Here's what Gary had to say about softened water:
"Simply amazing product which changed my life
After many years of suffering with eczema we decided to invest in a water softener after this was recommended to us by a friend who said this could improve my skin condition.
We called Hydroworks and Laurence came to our home and did a comprehensive demonstration and showed us the difference between hard and soft water. We were really happy with his personalised approach and therefore we decided to go with Hydroworks to complete the installation.
The installation was completed professionally and without any disruption. It took a few weeks for me to notice a difference in the feel of the water but I guess this was due to the limescale flushing through and out of the system.
After about three weeks the difference was clearly noticeable and having a bath made the water feel silky and smooth.
After about six weeks I started to notice an improvement in my skin and my eczema started to clear up. Due to the difference in now having soft water I am not able to manage my eczema through only having to use moisturisers which means I am no longer reliant of potent steroid creams and I never thought this could be possible!
Whenever we stay away at hotels I immediately feel the difference in the water quality and the adverse effect this has on my skin. I would defiantly recommend a water softener to other people with skin complaints and I cannot recommend Hydroworks enough due to the personal service which we received from Laurence and his team.
Thank you for making such a difference to me and for helping to improve my skin condition!"
You can read Gary's original comments here
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Nicole Sandford, Bromley, Kent
Another client of ours, Nicole, contacted us because her daughter had severe eczema, and was unable to live at home with her as they could not find the incoming water main. Several companies had tried to locate it, without success. She decided one last attempt, and after reading our reviews, asked us to come in and see if we could locate the water main. Using a stethoscope, I went around her home searching for sounds of water as the kitchen tap was running, and eventually we found the area where the main was located.
Here is what Nicole had to say about her experiences with softened water:
"A God send and no exaggeration
I came across Hydroworks when trying to have a water softener installed in my current property. Something that a big company like Harveys should have been able to have managed, but whom seemed incapable or unwilling to do - and so after 6 months of wasting my time I took my business elsewhere and this was how I came across Hydroworks.
Laurence from Hydroworks came out and did a property survey and gave me a quote straightaway. I was so excited and relieved that the company were willing to try and provide me with a solution to my less than straightforward installation. Laurence was very patient and showed a genuine appreciation for my previous experiences and ongoing needs. He took time out to work out a viable solution and went through explaining all aspects in detail to me.
I was very reassured and confident that he could make it work. I was provided with a reasonable quote and on the day, Jay came out and undertook the installation in a very timely and professional manner. Jay's knowledge and experience in the field, meant that he was able to turn what was initially going to be a tricky and prolonged installation, into a much simpler and less convoluted process.
A water softener is essential for my family's needs, as we suffer with eczema and have found that without the softener, the flares are very bad and in truth unbearable to live with. I cannot give credence to just how important a water softener is to me and my family and just how much better our lives are now that the softener has been installed. The customer service at Reception, to Laurence and Jay has been the greatest!
I would recommend this company to anyone seeking to have a water softener system installed. They are miles apart from the likes of (others) and have a genuine care for their customers. They are also very economical (so important in the current crisis). I only wish I could have found them sooner, could have saved me a lot of unnecessary costs and headache."
You can read Nicole's original comments here
Independent Clinical Study - Sheffield University & King's College Hospital (NHS)
The following is an extract from the Sheffield University website:
"Hard water damages our protective skin barrier and could contribute to the development of eczema, a new study has shown"
About University of Sheffield & King's College Hospital
This ground-breaking clinical study on hard water and eczema was led by researchers from the University of Sheffield in partnership with King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
The University of Sheffield is one of the UK’s prestigious Russell Group universities and a world leader in research and teaching. With almost 27,000 students from more than 140 countries and over 1,200 leading academics, Sheffield has won multiple Queen’s Anniversary Prizes and produced six Nobel Prize winners. Its research partners include Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Unilever, AstraZeneca, Siemens and Airbus, as well as UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations.
This collaboration with King’s College Hospital (one of the NHS’s most respected clinical and research centres) underscores the credibility and importance of the findings.
What the researchers found
Researchers from the University of Sheffield and King’s College Hospital, London have discovered that exposing the skin to hard water damages the skin barrier – which is our defence against outside threats such as bacteria or sunburn – and increases the sensitivity of the skin to potential irritants found in everyday wash products such as soap or washing powder.
Hard water contains high levels of calcium and magnesium ions that bind to surfactants such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) – which act as detergents or wetting agents – making them insoluble, so they precipitate onto the skin.
Skin pH - Why this matters
Skin pH is normally acidic but hard water has high alkalinity which means it can raise the skin surface pH. A shift towards alkaline pH disturbs the skin’s natural function as a physical barrier and leaves it prone to colonisation by potentially pathogenic bacteria which can cause infection.
Hard water's effects on skin
Lead author of the study, Dr Simon Danby (University of Sheffield’s Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease) said:
“By damaging the skin barrier, washing with hard water may contribute to the development of eczema – a chronic skin condition characterised by an intensely itchy red rash.
Patients with eczema are much more sensitive to the effects of hard water than people with healthy skin. This increase in sensitivity is associated with a genetic predisposition to a skin barrier defect brought about by mutations in the gene encoding filaggrin. Filaggrin is a structural protein important for the formation of our skin’s barrier to the outside environment. Up to half of all people with eczema carry a filaggrin gene.”
He went on to say:
“This new study reveals the mechanism by which calcium and magnesium ions in hard water, surfactants, and filaggrin interact to damage the skin barrier unlocking new information about how exposure to hard water could potentially contribute to the development of eczema.”
Symptoms of eczema (also called ‘atopic eczema’ or ‘atopic dermatitis’) include inflamed, dry skin and often secondary skin infections, which can affect any part of the body and every aspect of a person’s life – both physically and emotionally.
A survey of people affected by eczema
A survey of 305 people with severe eczema performed by Allergy UK revealed that more than 70 per cent reported feeling depressed, 73 per cent reported difficulties with self-esteem, and 58 per cent said that it impacts their personal relationships. In addition, 73 per cent of respondents stated that their severe eczema impacted negatively on their social life, with six in 10 stating that it made them want to stay indoors.
The average number of sick days taken per person in the UK is 6.5 a year. Results from the Allergy UK survey suggested that 24 per cent of people with severe eczema miss more than six days a year due to their condition alone and 15 per cent reported taking more than 16 days off a year.
The Study:
Watch this video: The Study Explained
Here is a summary video about Atopic Eczema, and the link between living with hard water and Eczema. This video summarises the findings of the Clinical Study.
The new study, which was funded by Harvey Water Softeners, is published in the Journal of Investigate Dermatology.
The team of researchers examined whether removing the calcium and magnesium ions using an ion-exchange water softener could mitigate the negative effects of hard water on the skin. They found that using a water softener reduces the harmful effects of surfactants, potentially decreasing the risk of developing eczema.
Co-senior author of the study, Dr Carsten Flohr from the St John’s Institute of Dermatology at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, said:
“One in five children and one in 12 adults in the UK suffer from eczema, costing the NHS well over £500 million annually. It is during the first few days and months of life that our skin is most susceptible to damage and most at risk of developing eczema.
For that reason, we are now embarking on a pilot trial to investigate whether the installation of a domestic water softener around the time of birth can prevent skin barrier breakdown and eczema in those living in hard water areas.”
The researchers who led the trial
The Softened Water for Eczema Prevention (SOFTER) trial was undertaken by Dr Flohr and his team from King’s College London and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in collaboration with the University of Sheffield team and colleagues from the University of Dundee, the Centre of Evidence-Based Dermatology at Nottingham University, Imperial College London, the National Institute for Health (Bethesda, USA), and Amsterdam Medical Centre.
Additional information
There are several references to this study, some more technical than others. Depending how much data you want, here are various links to the study
Study title and links
The Effect of Water Hardness on Surfactant Deposition Following Washing and Subsequent Skin Irritation in Atopic Dermatitis Patients and Healthy Controls
- Synopsis to the paper as published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
- Sheffield University online link to the entire study, or a downloadable PDF of that study can be downloaded here.
Important note
Eczema is a complicated condition with signs and symptoms that are different for everyone. A water softener may unfortunately not be the answer in some cases.