MARION — Since Tina Stewart, 45, moved into her Marion home in 2000, she has replaced her hot water heater and her water softener three times each. Her sump pump and garbage disposal have fallen into disrepair multiple times, too.
The culprit, she says: The hard water that courses through Marion’s pipes and spits out its faucets, leaving its remnants in showers, baths and sinks.
Altogether, Stewart estimates she and her husband have spent thousands of dollars in related repairs over the years. Even then, she said, they’re too scared to drink the city’s water.
“We started buying drinking water because we don’t want to drink the water out of our faucets,” she told the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Hard water common in the Midwest
Marion isn’t the only Iowa town with hard water. In fact, most of the Midwest and much of the United States draws on hard water, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Still, the water has left a bad taste in Marion residents’ mouths — literally. Some question its safety, and most complain about the hardness.
