Hard water
Water's hardness is determined by the concentration of multivalent cations in the water. Multivalent cations are positively charged metal complexes with a charge greater than 1+. Usually, the cations have the charge of 2+. Common cations found in hard water include Ca and Mg. These ions enter a water supply by leaching from minerals within an aquifer. Common calcium-containing minerals are calcite and gypsum. A common magnesium mineral is dolomite (which also contains calcium). Rainwater and distilled water are soft, because they contain few ions.
Hot hardness
In materials engineering and metallurgy, hot hardness or red hardness (when a metal glows a dull red from the heat) corresponds to hardness of a material at high temperatures. As the temperature of material increases, hardness decreases and at some point a drastic change in hardness occurs. The hardness at this point is termed the "hot" or "red" hardness of that material. Such changes can be seen in materials such as heat treated alloys.