Does Hard Water Cause Kidney Stones?

How Do Kidney Stones Form?

Imagine kidneys as high powered filters for your body. They remove toxins from your blood and return essential nutrients into your bloodstream.

Your kidneys naturally use urine to remove the toxins from your blood. However, urine contains a few crystal-forming substances like calcium, oxalate, sodium, phosphorus, and uric acid.

When these are high in concentration, they begin to calcify in the kidneys. Dehydration can be the perfect breeding ground for calcification because there are more crystal-forming substances present in your kidneys when dehydrated than your urine can dilute. Additionally, some people lack the substances needed to prevent crystals from sticking together. Both of these scenarios, high or low concentration of substances, create an ideal environment for kidney stones to form.

In the United States, 9% of adults are at risk of getting kidney stones in their lifetime.

The Cost of Kidney Stones

Not only are kidney stones painful but they leave you penniless. With increases in health care costs, surgery, emergency room visit, and medication, the costs can run anywhere from $8,000 to $12,000 after insurance.

Some procedures require patients to undergo anesthesia using shockwave therapy to break up the stone. Others require scoping through the urethra and breaking up the stone with a laser. A third option includes a small incision that's made to the patient's back from which the stones are removed. These surgeries are merely treating the symptoms of improper kidney function and don’t necessarily mean you won’t ever have a kidney stone again. Attacking the root cause(s) is the most effective way to solve this problem, and one root cause is the water you’re drinking!