Water hardness/softness.

[colly0410 1,181]

Been looking on Severn Trent info site: noticed my water (near Rolls-Royce Hucknal) = moderately soft, Mother-in-laws (near Bowman Hucknall) = moderately hard, where I used to live in the Meadows = hard, friends in Ratby = very hard. Wondering why the hardness/softness differences in such a small area?... P.S. Friends in Bodmin = very soft, but that doesn't count + not ST..

[FLY2 10,108]

I think ours is fairly soft in Basford, but it's coming out the colour of strong wee today.

As a kid in Bobbers Mill in the 50's, we had a water softener unit in the kitchen and dad periodically filling it with soda crystals.

Steam engines based at Annesley were notorious for being almost grey and streaky as well as dirty due to the very hard water in the Newstead area.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Depends where the water comes from, here it percolates through limestone measures, hundreds of feet thick so is pretty hard, where I lived in California, it came out of granite/sandstone measures, so was pretty soft, just down the valley in Sacramento, it was pumped from an aquifier so was very hard, ie limestone..

If it comes from a reservoir it usually will be soft, same from rivers, from the Bunter, now called the Sherwood sandstone measures, it will usually be pretty hard, it percolates through gypsum and anhydrite beds before reaching the Bunter.

[Limey 242]

You will also find that harder water makes better tea and beer - for some strange reason. Our water in Michigan is known for being hard - in our last house it was VERY hard, and you could scale-up a coffee maker in four weeks! It isn't as bad here, but we still use a softener.

The "home brew" stores over here sell a substance they call "Burton Water Treatment" - which is basically lime you dissolve in your brewing water to make it harder! (And I always thought they got the water straight out of the Trent!)

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

We used to clean coffee makers with vinegar in Sacramento, but these days they use aluminium pipes in them, so maybe not a good idea these days. But it used to dissolve the heavy build up of lime in them.

[FLY2 10,108]

Re#4. That was Shippos

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

The UK geological survey show a water bore at the old Shipstone's brewery site, so did they use river water or Bunter water??

Typo, changed from US to UK....

[FLY2 10,108]

Or the Leen maybe.

[Limey 242]

The instructions for coffee makers say to use a vinegar solution - but I found CLR to work better, and quicker. Just rinse VERY well! Also switched from a drip coffee maker to a Kuerig K-Cup system which seems to hold up to the water a bit better!

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

We use a percolator.

[colly0410 1,181]

We never have problems at home with a furred up kettle, but at work (QMC) the kettles & water boilers are always furring up. Mind you they've got their own wells so it's pumped straight out the ground, heard they pay a licence fee to someone to do it..

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

Things have changed in the last number of years. Once upon a time most of Nottingham's water was pumped up from the bunter sandstone layer.

Now that is just one source another main source is from the Derwent via the ressa to the west of the M1 between junctions 25 & 24. It draws its water from the Derwent just above Derwent Mouth where it enters the Trent.

To help in times of shortage there was a large ressa built near Carsington in Derby's, water was pumped up from the Derwent just before you get to Whatstandwell to fill the ressa with the idea it could be let back down and then flow to the treatment works downstream. Come to think on it that must have been 30 odd years ago, bloody heck I am old.

[bamber 128]

If you go to the Severn-Trent website there's a section where you can type in your Post Code and they will tell you which bore hole your water comes from and the hardness of the supply.

I could swear that Nottingham water used to be harder. We had to descale an electric kettle fairly regularly but nowadays there never seems to be any need.

[Beefsteak 305]

Our waters that hard, the gas s41ts itself when they bump into each other!

[Stan 386]

Many years ago,I remember how researchers were trying to relate increased CVS deaths to water hardness around Glasgow area.This was disproved,/not shown,but magnesium was a factor

CONCLUSION

Information from epidemiological and other studies supports the hypothesis that a low intake of magnesium may increase the risk of dying from, and possibly developing, cardiovascular disease or stroke. Thus, not removing magnesium from drinking water, or in certain situations increasing the magnesium intake from water, may be beneficial, especially for populations with an insufficient dietary intake of the mineral.

PMID: 16874137 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[carni 10,094]

We have hard water here in our part of the West Midlands, and my kettle and iron are always' furring up; I cover the element in the kettle with ordinary vinegar and bring to the boil a few times. Don't leave it, because as it comes to the boil it will over flow. Just boil with fresh water 2/3 times to get rid of the smell.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

It used to be said, if you put some pebbles in the kettle, it stopped lime forming, it coated the pebbles, never tried it so can't comment, my kettle sits on the gas stove, so I scrape it out regularly.

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

If your kettle furs up and you have a modern boiler you have a big expensive problem in the making especially if its a combi boiler.

Both the main heat exchanger and the secondary plate heat exchanger (in combi's) can suffer badly with lime scale as the space for the water to flow between the heated plates is so small.

Depending on where you live and the make of boiler you are looking anywhere between £200 and £450 to replace one or the other. You could go for a power flush British Gas £450 or so anyone else from £250.

I always fit a electrolytic scale reducer to give whole house protection top of the range about £45 and a handyman can install in the rising main just above the main stopcock.

[Trickymicky 57]

Most of the Nottingham area used to be moderately hard. It has advantages for those of you still with lead pipes, usually underground. The lime in the water puts a lining inside the pipe and prevents small amounts of lead leeching into the water. Soft water,apparently is not good long term.

Severn Trent will (or would) take a sample from your property free of charge and give you the results from the Lab,showing lead content. Pretty sure they will do a full analysis free if you have good reason, ie Doctor suggested it.

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

Micky like you say you are fairly well protected round here from lead in water. Most of the pipe has been down since Victorian times and is well limed up. It is only when it is disturbed that you can get a problem.

S&T will give you a free new connection if you lay the new service yourself or at your own expense. Sometimes worth it if you live in a terrace as most have a shared service for which all occupants have a responsibility if anything go's wrong.

[Trickymicky 57]

Yes, that facility is a bargain Colin. Water companies have been forced to carry out underground leaks on private property for free now, but there are exclusions and the first leak is often the start of many. so i'd go for the new pipe any day

Mention of Carsington reservoir reminded me of it collapsing during construction, that would unsteady share prices if it went again now its full! Wonder if anyone remembers it?

[barclaycon 569]

Limey wrote:

You will also find that harder water makes better tea and beer - for some strange reason.

I must admit that I have never found this to be the case.

In fact, it would seem to be the exact opposite.

Soft water gives you a much better cup of tea. Hard water gives you lots of stuff floating on the top.

Best cup of tea I ever had was at a studio near Bath. When I asked them what brand it was, they said PG Tips. It was the water that made it taste nice.

Where I live now the water quality is not so good. In fact we had a case of Cryptosporidium some years back and couldn't drink the water for a few days. Since that time they seem to have increased the amount of chlorine in the supply.

When you run the tap it smells like swimming baths.

Being a keen fan of a decent cup of tea or coffee, I now filter all the water I drink.

I keep a Brita filter jug filled up.

Tea tastes great and things like coffee makers and kettels don't fur up so much.

[LizzieM 9,510]

The water's a lot softer here in Nottingham than where we've lived in the past ...... Northern Home Counties. The kettle has never furred up here but down south I had a wire thingy in the kettle to gather the lime scale but we always got a peculiar white scummy residue in our cuppa!

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

Micky, I was working in the area (Brassington) at the time and remember the collapse well, They lost nearly 500 metres of an earth bank and had to start again.

I often wonder whether the system generates electricity when the water is allowed to flow back down to the Derwent.

[carni 10,094]

We kept a caravan at Skeg for a few years, and i don't know if it was because it stood empty a lot but we used to get solid scale around the bathroom taps. One of the other caravan owners told us to cut a lemon in half and fix it to the tap ends and leave over night. It worked a treat.