This epidemiological study of ecological type deals with the analysis of relationship between drinking water hardness and health status of inhabitants of the Slovak Republic. This relationship was investigated in two groups of more than 50,000 inhabitants living in 53 different municipalities. The first group was supplied with drinking water with low hardness, and the second group was supplied with drinking water with increased hardness. The health status of the population of both groups was monitored by means of health indicators, which represented 15-year average values, for 1994–2008. We investigated four major causes of death, namely cardiovascular, oncological, gastrointestinal and respiratory tract mortality, and evaluated the average life expectancy. The health status of inhabitants supplied with drinking water with increased hardness was significantly better than the health status of people supplied with drinking water with low hardness. For example, the relative mortality for cardiovascular diseases, oncological diseases, digestive tract diseases and respiratory diseases was 56%, 62%, 128% and 121% higher in the population supplied with soft drinking water compared to the population supplied with hard water, respectively. In addition, life expectancy was more than 4.5 years higher in the population supplied with hard drinking water. Our observation confirms the findings of previous studies on relationship between the water hardness and human health.

这项关于生态类型的流行病学研究旨在分析饮用水硬度与斯洛伐克共和国居民健康状况之间的关系。在居住在53个不同城市的50,000多名居民的两组中调查了这种关系。第一组供应低硬度的饮用水，第二组供应高硬度的饮用水。通过健康指标监测两组人群的健康状况，这些指标代表1994-2008年的15年平均值。我们调查了四个主要死亡原因，即心血管，肿瘤，胃肠道和呼吸道死亡率，并评估了平均预期寿命。供应硬度增加的饮用水的居民的健康状况明显好于供应硬度低的饮用水的居民的健康状况。例如，与以硬水供应的人口相比，以软饮水供应的人口的心血管疾病，肿瘤疾病，消化道疾病和呼吸道疾病的相对死亡率分别高出56％，62％，128％和121％。 。此外，提供烈性饮用水的人口的预期寿命高出4.5年以上。我们的观察结果证实了先前关于水硬度与人体健康之间关系的研究结果。软饮水人口的心血管疾病，肿瘤疾病，消化道疾病和呼吸系统疾病的相对死亡率分别比硬水人口高56％，62％，128％和121％。此外，提供烈性饮用水的人口的预期寿命高出4.5年以上。我们的观察结果证实了先前关于水硬度与人体健康之间关系的研究结果。软饮水人口的心血管疾病，肿瘤病，消化道疾病和呼吸系统疾病的相对死亡率分别比硬水人口高56％，62％，128％和121％。此外，提供烈性饮用水的人口的预期寿命高出4.5年以上。我们的观察结果证实了先前关于水硬度与人体健康之间关系的研究结果。提供饮用水的人口增加了5年。我们的观察结果证实了先前关于水硬度与人体健康之间关系的研究结果。提供饮用水的人口增加了5年。我们的观察结果证实了先前关于水硬度与人体健康之间关系的研究结果。