If you live in a hard water area you'll know what a nuisance limescale can be. It leaves a chalky white residue inside your kettle and your iron, and its build-up can lead to reduced water flow in your pipes and taps.
It can also affect the performance of your shower by clogging up the head and even building up inside your shower unit, not to mention make your enclosure, screen, tray and hose look less than their sparkling best.
Limescale on the surface can be tackled with regular, thorough cleaning using the right products. You can buy special limescale removers, or you can try vinegar and bicarbonate of soda.
Choosing a shower head with rub-clean nozzles also makes it much easier to keep limescale at bay and prevent it from blocking the holes and impacting the water flow and pressure.
But what about the inside of your shower? Unfortunately, there is not a great deal you can do to prevent mineral build-up in the shower unit itself, and it can cause a number of problems.
For example, it can lead to failure of the heating elements, as well as poor temperature control and reduced energy efficiency.
It's why shower manufacturers are coming up with their own solutions to tackle the problem. Take Mira for example, whose showers often feature Clearscale technology to combat limescale.
The company points out that limescale build-up often occurs within the hot-spots of your shower system, so by lengthening the heating elements inside its units and widening the gaps between the coils, Mira can ensure its heating tanks run at a more consistent temperature.
A delayed shut-down also helps to prevent limescale-related problems, by flushing hot water from the shower after each use.
Of course, you can also purchase special filters for your shower, or you can install a water softener in your home if you want to solve the limescale problem altogether.