Question about cats and "hard water"

I have a cat, Manx, about a year and a half. I've always had female cats before so when he started having issues with grit and minerals in his urine I was not prepared. We live in an area that is notorious for having a lot of minerals in the water. It destroys hot water heaters and clogs up shower heads, etc. could this possibly be A contributing factor. Am expecting to have to change his diet, but could hard water be part of the problem??:rub:

I also have a male Manx. Our water is not what we call "soft" where I live. Lots of minerals in it. I'm lucky in the fact my male has always been a heavy water drinker.

It could be the water, but he could be having urinary problems due to his food. If you've been feeding him dry kibble and he doesn't drink lots of water, this could be the primary suspect for his urinary problems. My male Manx was a kibble addict all his life, but since he loves to drink water, he's never had any urinary problems.

When he was 15 years old, my vet wanted him on a wet canned cat food and I finally found two brands of wet canned cat food he likes and would eat and although he's eating wet canned cat food, he still drinks lots of water. He doesn't have any thyroid issues which would make him drink lots of water. He just likes to drink water. And when he drinks, he's like "a cow at a water trough". He turned 16 years old June 13th.

Yes, the water could be a contributing factor. A lot of people on this site provide filtered or bottled water to their cat(s).

Distilled water is another good choice. It comes in one gallon jugs.

There are many factors that contribute to urinary problems in male kitties, everything from genes to food and everything in between.  Many people on TCS have experience with stones, crystals, and blockages.  It's important that you change your cat's food and filtered water probably wouldn't hurt either.

Thank you for the reply.
Since the last post we have found out that Alex has Urethral spasms and therefor has problems passing the urine. They did catheterized him and there are no crystals. The ultrasound showed nothing also, he is on an antispasmodic now and doing well. Keeping fingers crossed and appreciating the generous and kind response!