I have hard water and I also have a softer. I am also suffering from bad body and face break out. When I lived at my parents last year my skin was so much better!! My blonde hair has a yellow tone now from the build up. I had to buy a shampoo called malibu for well water.. i see the film the water leaves on my faucet,bathtub and everything else. So I know that is whats going on with my skin!! I am having a water system brought in,its a big barrel they will hook it to my pipes so I cant have normal water. It will cost around 1,000 and 100 a month for the water system but to have normal hair and the system will be so worth it.. I am glad I am not going crazy like my boyfriend thinks I am.. I just want to warn people dont waste your money on a softner all it does is add extra crap to the water,it does not help the skin issues!
Mineral water is not guarantee to be soft water because, well, it contains minerals! Calcium and Magnesium are definitely some of the more common minerals. Spring water is similar - it comes from a spring, which is water run off from mountains and might contain minerals picked up from rocks and soil.
I'm no doctor or scientist, but I think the best bet, cheapest, easiest source of soft water to experiment with would be distilled water, store bought. It's available in almost every grocery / drug store (in my area atleast) for less than a dollar for 4 litres, with drugstores more likely to carry them. Cheapest way to get guarantee soft water to experiment with. I understand the water is evaporated, condensed back into liquid form and filtered. The evaporation process would leave all the calicum and magnesium behind (key ingredients in hard water, and causes of soap scums), like the white stuff we get in our pots when we boil off hard water.
I've figured out a way to wash my face economically and hygienically with bottled distilled water - use a spray bottle. Buy a medium size spray bottle, one that won't be too heavy when filled. Clean it, and fill it with distilled water. Don't reuse some other product's spray bottle... it's not worth the risk. Wash your hands with normal soap and tap water and wipe dry. Wet your hand with the distilled water and pat on your face. Use your facial cleanser. When you're done lathering, stand over your bathtub and spray your face with the bottle. Start from the forehead, moving side to side and downward to your chin. It's like washing off bathtub cleanser on your bathtub wall - you would put the shower head on the top and let the water run down the wall. Use your other hand to wipe the water off your face and repeat spraying, top to bottom, until it doesn't feel slippery anymore (maybe 2 to 3 repetitions). Make sure you get all the cleanser off, use more water if you need to! Pat dry with clean towel, and change that towel often - or use paper towel and reuse it some other way during the day. You might want to rinse out the tub with normal tap water afterwards to prevent anyone from slipping on the soapy water and getting hurt. My bottle of distilled water lasts atleast 2 weeks with this method. Your results may vary.
The KEY point is, don't wash off soap on your face with hard water.
I've had acne almost everyday of my life for about 15 years. Forehead, nose, chin, face, anywhere anytime and everywhere. I do not smoke or drink. Have been on dermatologist perscribed pills (not acutane), chinese medicine, Proactive, tea tree oil, salicylic acid, benzo peroxide, more brands of cleanser/toner/lotion than I can remember, 8 glasses of water a day, makeup, no makeup, wash, don't wash, sun, no sun, chocolate-free diet, caffeine-free diet, fried food-free diet, hypoallergenic detergent, fresh towel/pillow cases every few days, never EVER touch your face, etc etc... pretty much all to no avail. To give an idea of the severity, one particular acne stayed on my face and continuously "exploded" for over a year. Only time I've had my skin completely clear is on vacation to a destination with soft water. During about a month's stay, I barely get any new breakouts. This happened three times, years apart. I do not think it is a coincidence.
I've been experimenting with distilled water for three weeks and so far, the frequency of new break outs have gone down. These are purely my speculation... but I think soap scum left on the skin, formed when soap is washed off with hard water, is the cause of my acne (and irritated dry skin). It could also be because hardwater hinders the cleansing power of soap by turning it into a solid (soap scum). And lastly, there might just be something in the water my skin don't like.
So try distilled water before you install something major. And if you do plan to give it shot, try sticking to it for atleast a month+ before you draw any conclusions. I don't think using soft water is a way to "heal" your current breakouts, but to stop new breakouts from forming. Some of them might have already formed, but not yet surfaced. So give it some time for your current breakout to surface / heal and to observe if you're getting less new ones. If you're female (like myself), maybe give it two months to rule out hormonal effects of menstrual cycle...?
If distilled water is working for you, please consider getting a countertop distiller for your long-term facial washing needs... to help cut down on plastic bottle use! Water softener might seem like a better investment but drinking hardwater might actually be beneficial (calcium is good). There's plenty of information about this on wikipedia under hard water.
Sorry for the wall of text, just wanted to put the information out there.
I actually bought a new filter showerhead and faucet filter from amazon a couple of days ago. I found out my city (Austin TX) uses Chloramine in its water supply to disinfect. Apparently fish can't even survive in water treated with chloramine, hence it being classified as extremely toxic..
Today I've also started washing my face with distilled water. I only paid 88 cents for 1 gallon and another $1 for a bottle sprayer. Can't hurt to try.
Ughhhh I just across this and I wish I didn't. I'm living in NY right now, and the water hear is pretty soft. I go back home to so cal on Monday for a week or so, and the water their is hard. I always remembered the shower head being covered in salt deposits and my dad always saying its from the hard water. Should I take a chance and hope it doesn't do anything bad, or use bottled water to wash my face which my parents have plenty of?
Ughhhh I just across this and I wish I didn't. I'm living in NY right now, and the water hear is pretty soft. I go back home to so cal on Monday for a week or so, and the water their is hard. I always remembered the shower head being covered in salt deposits and my dad always saying its from the hard water. Should I take a chance and hope it doesn't do anything bad, or use bottled water to wash my face which my parents have plenty of?
Be a guinea pig for us and try the hard water, then come back with results 
Just kidding. I really don't know as I am just now testing this myself.
Ughhhh I just across this and I wish I didn't. I'm living in NY right now, and the water hear is pretty soft. I go back home to so cal on Monday for a week or so, and the water their is hard. I always remembered the shower head being covered in salt deposits and my dad always saying its from the hard water. Should I take a chance and hope it doesn't do anything bad, or use bottled water to wash my face which my parents have plenty of?
Be a guinea pig for us and try the hard water, then come back with results
Just kidding. I really don't know as I am just now testing this myself.
I lived in so cal for 22 years and my skin was no worse than it was here in NY so I'm hoping it'll be fine.
