Folks always blame the water when they have issues and it always comes down to hardness. There can be many issues with water quality and some have nothing to do with hardness. Also hardness can vary tremendously and mild hardness isn't that big an issue. It's mainly the carbonates, magnesium and calcium that cause the hardness issues. The Western U.S has about the hardest water you will ever find and pure soaps really don't work. if you are in that situation the best solution is to get some bottled water and use that for shaving unless you buy a water softener. The hardness impedes foaming of the soap and when you add more soap often times you just get a thin weak excuse for lather that quickly dries on your face.

It's one of the reasons most soaps are a concoction of chemicals. That deals with the hardness. With shave soaps you have to experiment and find one that works well in your area.