Direct pulsed spark discharge treatment was found to be able to induce the precipitation of calcium ions in supersaturated hard water (Yang et al. in Water Res 44:3659, 2010). The present study investigated possible pathways for the plasma-induced precipitation. Both UV and reactive species were found not the major factors that stimulate the precipitation in present setup. A transient hot-wire method was used to investigate the effect of plasma-induced local micro-heating. Approximately 15% drop in the calcium-ion concentration was observed, indicating that the local micro-heating effect could be the major contributing factor. Additionally, a nanosecond pulsed corona discharge was used to investigate the non-thermal effect of plasma, and a maximum 7% drop in the calcium hardness was observed. Calcite with rhombohedron morphology was observed in both cases, similar to the structure observed in the spark discharge treatment case, indicating that calcium-ion precipitation process could be attributed to both the thermal and non-thermal effects produced by the plasma.