Hard Water and Soft Water
There are two basic kinds of water: hard water and soft water. The hardness of water is decided by how much magnesium and calcium the water contains. To give some examples, soft water products available in convenience stores include “Volvic,” “Crystal Geyser,” and "Rokko no Oishi Mizu” while hard water products are “Evian,” “Vittel,” “Contrex.” The main kind of water which is drunk in Japan is soft water, and I strongly prefer soft water to hard water. First of all, there is the widely known fact that hard water contains more minerals such as calcium and magnesium, and it is good as a mineral supplement after sport or as a calcium supplement for pregnant women; however, hard water has a unique smell which most people find it bad, and the more calcium and magnesium water contains, the worse the smells. Secondly, soft water is more suitable for most Japanese cuisine such as miso-soup, cooking rice, green tea and so on. For example, in cooking rice, using hard water makes the rice lose its moisture easily and ruins the natural good smell, whereas using soft water makes the moisture remain in rice and also brings out the nice smell of it. For these reasons, soft water is better than hard water.
Issei Shioya
