Applications of soft water Practice exercise 3

A tea vendor at the market switches from using hard tap water to soft water for making tea. Customers say the tea now tastes better. Explain why this change might have improved the tea. (1 mark)

Atieno runs a small hotel and uses soft water for cleaning. Explain one way this helps her reduce cleaning time and effort. (1 mark)

Grandma tells her grandchildren that clothes used to look cleaner and feel softer when washed with river water than with borehole water. Explain why this might be true.  (1 mark)

Jamila notices that her dishes have white spots even after washing. Her friend advises her to try using soft water. Explain why this advice is helpful.  (1 mark)

Kevin's household uses soft water. Explain how this can help reduce maintenance costs for plumbing. (1 mark)

Peter runs a guesthouse in Eldoret and recently spent a lot of money fixing blocked hot water pipes. A technician advised him to start using soft water instead of hard borehole water. Explain why the technician gave this advice and how it would help reduce future costs. (2 marks)

Customers at Benta’s restaurant in Nakuru complain about a strange taste in tea and coffee. A water test shows the tap water has high mineral content. She changes to a soft water supply, and the complaints stop. Explain why this change made a difference. (2 marks)

In Mombasa, a laundry business keeps replacing washing machines every 2 years due to internal damage. An expert says the problem is the use of hard water. Explain how soft water could extend the life of these machines. (2 marks)

Mariam owns a beauty spa in Kisumu. She notices that her water causes soap to form scum and leave residues on her clients’ skin and hair. After switching to soft water, the results improved. Explain how the switch helped her business and customer satisfaction. (2 marks)

Mariam owns a beauty spa in Kisumu. She notices that her water causes soap to form scum and leave residues on her clients’ skin and hair. After switching to soft water, the results improved. Explain how the switch helped her business and customer satisfaction. (2 marks)

Two students in a school science lab are asked to compare how soap reacts with hard and soft water. Student A uses river water and gets thick lather. Student B uses borehole water and sees no lather but instead scum. Explain the results using the concept of water hardness. (2 marks)