How To Deal With Water Lines in Your Hookah Base

Like all water pipes and smoking devices, your hookah will develop unusual marks, spots, stains, and residual buildup in due course. Not only your hookah bowl or the hose but the stem, base, and tray will also have leftover traces become rigid and unpleasantly visible over time. 

One common teething issue is water lines in your hookah base. Everyone spots these water lines sooner or later, depending on the frequency of use and how well one cleans & maintains the hookah base. This guide discusses everything you need to know to deal with water lines.  

What Are Water Lines in Hookah Base?

The water lines in your hookah base are a residual buildup of trace minerals. All natural water sources have various minerals, including magnesium and calcium. Some water resources are also rich in iron. Calcium, magnesium, and iron can leave behind unsightly traces on glass. 

Your hookah glass base may develop circular lines at the level up to which you usually fill it up with water. The minerals in water aside, hookah bases may also hold on to residual traces from the smoke produced by shisha tobacco flavors, be it the molasses, glycerin, honey, or others. 

As a result, you may notice visibly unpleasant rings in your water base. There may be one or several rings depending on how long the hookah base has been used and reused without a thorough scrub and rinse. Also, dirty hookah bases may have mold growth and the water lines. 

Water Lines Are Not Mold, But the Two May Coexist

Typical water lines are not signs of mold growth. Hence, you don’t have to panic and abandon the hookah base. However, there could be some mold along with the water lines. Observe the color and the texture of these residual traces. Generally, water lines don’t have any greenish or blackish hues, the usual colors of mold. Also, mold doesn’t form a neat circular line in the base.

Furthermore, water lines are more common for users living in areas where the tap water is hard. Soft water contains trace minerals but not to the extent as hard water. You may have water lines in your hookah base much sooner than usual if you use the hard water supply in your area.

How To Prevent Water Lines in Hookah Base

It is practically impossible to prevent water lines completely because your hookah base will have some residual traces. What you can do is take some precautionary steps and adopt a few preventive maintenance practices so that you can delay the onset of the typical water lines.  

Also, you may use soft water to slow the buildup of trace minerals. You can use filtered water if you have a system at your home that gets rid of the hard water minerals and other impurities. Another option is to use mineral-free or distilled water, which is an expensive solution. 

Water lines form faster in hookah bases for frequent users. Besides, a dirty hookah base or an infrequent cleaning schedule will worsen the water lines sooner than you may imagine. Preventing water lines in a hookah base is possible with the best practices for health & hygiene. 

Always get rid of dirty water after a hookah session. Never have leftover dirty water in the hookah base sit overnight or for several hours. Do not use the same water for several consecutive shisha sessions, whether it is the same flavor or different blends. Ideally, you should clean your hookah, including the base, after every session to prevent the water lines. 

How To Remove Water Lines from Hookah Base

The easiest way to remove water lines is a combination of warm water, regular soap, and a thick soft-bristled cleaning brush. Your hookah kit probably includes the thick soft-bristled brush necessary to clean the glass base. You may also use glass cleaners but avoid harsh chemicals.  

Soak the glass hookah base in warm soapy water, use the brush to scrub the interiors, especially the places where you see the water lines, rinse thoroughly, and repeat the process, if necessary. Use distilled white vinegar or isopropyl alcohol to remove any rigid water lines.

Always begin a cleaning routine with warm water and soap. Do not start the exercise with distilled white vinegar or rubbing alcohol. You need the glass interiors of the base to have the lather of the soapy water to soften the residual buildup. Subsequently, regular vinegar or rubbing alcohol will be more effective at removing the rigid stains, including the tough water lines.