What about the deposits I see on my (sink, ice cube trays, teakettle, etc.)?

If these deposits are white or whitish-gray, they are usually the result of either high hardness in your water or a high amount of dissolved solids (or both). If your water is hard, calcium and magnesium compounds will be deposited as water evaporates. If the total amount of dissolved solids (dissolved salts) is high, you may see similar depositing, although its source may be from sodium and potassium instead.

A side note here: Water softeners work on the following principle: Your softener removes the calcium and magnesium (the hardness offenders) and substitutes sodium or potassium for those metal ions (that’s why you dump bags of salt into your softener). Though the metal ions have changed, the total amount of dissolved salt in your water remains essentially the same. Reverse osmosis (“R.O.”) systems remove much more than the hardness from your water. Soft water generally causes more piping corrosion than hard water, but hard water generates more depositing and clogging than soft water.

Deposits which have a yellow, orange, red, brown, or black coloration are usually due to the presence of iron (and sometimes manganese).

Deposits which have a green or blue appearance are normally due to the presence of copper.

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