How hard is my water? Water hardness in my area by postcode and UK map! 

Just to make it a little easier we've created this UK water hardness map

If you’ve got hard water where you live, you’ll probably know about it! It can be the bane of many property owners’ lives trying to deal with the effects of hard water.

Hard water isn’t a problem but the limescale caused by hard water can cause some problems. These can be cosmetic but can also be very expensive in appliance efficiency, breakdowns and replacements.

Let’s get right into the hard facts.

What is Hard Water?

Hard water is caused by high concentrations of dissolved minerals; calcium carbonate (CaCO3), magnesium carbonate (MgCO3), and occasionally small amounts of silicates of various kinds.

But there’s so much information on the internet about water quality and hard water problems that you can become overwhelmed.

Let’s make it easy and ask ourselves a few questions so we can then come up with some answers.

How do I know if I have hard water?

It’s usually easy to tell if you have hard water. You’ll have scale buildup in your kettle, deposits on the taps and on your shower screens.

You’ll also find you need to use greater amounts of soap, shower gel, and detergents than you would like. Most of all you may be spending more on energy to heat your water than you would expect because your boiler is clogged up.

That may indicate you have hard water, but that leads to another question about the area you live in.

How hard is the water in my area?

Water hardness varies from place to place, region to region. Some areas have predominantly soft water but there are also pockets of hard water.

With such variation how do you know if you have hard water?

To be accurate and get a result that’s local to you, the answer is to either test it yourself, or get the water tested.

How to test water hardness

There are two main methods of carrying out a home water hardness test. Both involve buying something to do it.

The readings you get will give you something that indicates your water is within one of the following ranges:

• Soft water: 0 – 100 PPM (0 – 99.89 mg/L)
• Moderately hard water: 101 – 200 PPM (100 – 199.64 mg/L)
• Hard water: 201 – 275 PPM (200 – 274.50 mg/L)
• Very hard water: 276 and above (275.00 mg/L up)

Let’s explain how to measure water hardness using the following two methods:

TDS meter to test hard water

The first method is to get a TDS meter. TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids, and the meter is an electronic device that measures the conductivity of the water.

Totally pure, deionised water does not conduct electricity at all. So, by measuring the level of conductivity the meter can estimate the concentration of minerals and other solids dissolved in the water.

There are two electrodes on the TDS meter and when they are immersed in liquid the meter measures the electrical resistance. You’ll see a reading on either a digital or analogue scale on the meter that shows the results of the test.

Digital devices are simpler to interpret because they give a number in parts per million, milligrams per litre (mg/l) or something similar.

Analogue TDS meters may have a scale that just shows soft/medium/hard/very hard that a needle points to.

Whichever you choose it will give you a good idea of the hardness of water in your area, and therefore, what solution may be best for you.

Test strip to test hard water in your home

Another type of test to check for hard water involves you dipping a test strip, a bit like litmus paper, into a sample of water. The colour of the strip changes according to the water hardness and you visually compare the colour with that on a lookup scale. The colour match will give you a score on a chart for the hardness range of your water.

The second type of colour match testing kits provide you with a liquid or tablet that you drop into the water sample and get a hard/soft, or colour matching scale like the strip method described previously.

Can you find out water hardness by postcode?

In broad terms yes you can find the water hardness in your area by postcode.

The best method to get a reasonably accurate idea is to go to your water supplier’s website and search for it. They will use various phrases relating to water quality, but the simplest thing to do is use the site search and enter “hard water” or “water hardness”.

It’s not always obvious how to find the information so you may need to dig around a bit. Northumbrian Water, for instance, asks people to enter an address in the “What’s going on in my area?” page. Once the address is entered water disruption, reported leaks, and roadworks are listed for the area.

Continuing down the page leads to the water hardness information, plus a full report to download.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a standard model for these websites, so you’ll have to search, but if all else fails contact your water supplier and they’ll be able to provide the information.

Just to make it a little easier we’ve created the UK water hardness map above.

That map will give you general idea about which parts of the country have hard water. We have classified the type of hard water by hard, moderate or soft.

Hard Water by Postcode

For a more accurate idea enter your postcode into this hard water checker:

This table allows you to determine what the descriptive levels are in parts per million and milligrams or micrograms per litre.

Water Hardness	Parts Per Million (PPM)	Milligrams Per Litre (mg/L)
Soft	0 - 100	0 – 99.89 mg/L
Moderately Hard	101 - 200	100 – 199.64 mg/L
Hard	201 - 275	200 – 274.50 mg/L
Very Hard	276 and above	275.00 mg/L up

Now you have those results you’ll have a better idea about the water hardness in your area. But remember that there are many places that may have harder or softer water than indicated. That’s particularly true if you have a private water supply.

In addition, we’re getting reports that areas that previously had soft water are now finding it’s getting harder. This is because climate change is altering the amount of water in reservoirs. Lower autumn and winter rainfall recently has meant reservoirs have not been refilling in the colder months.

Many water companies have been supplementing water supplies to their customers by drawing water from boreholes leading to higher mineral content in the water that comes through your pipes. And that means harder water, even if you’re in a soft water area.

Having found that you live in a hard water area, or if not that you have a localised problem that’s affecting your home, you’ll be wondering what the solution is.

What can be done about hard water problems?

There is only one sure-fire way to get proper soft water and that is to move to a region that doesn’t have hard water. Realistically, this isn’t very practical for most people.

Facing facts, hard water is quite difficult to deal with, and every solution is a compromise. There are some very efficient methods of preventing the limescale build up caused by hard water. Fortunately, we have extensive experience in helping people resolve their issues with hard water.

By fitting the right hard water filter or softener in your home you can significantly improve your water quality. That might be a traditional salt-based water softener along with a separate drinking water supply. Or it could be a salt-free system that also filters out chemicals as well as treating the limescale. Read more information about whether a water filter can help with hard water here.

There are so many solutions, and individual situations available that the first step is to get in touch with the experts to help guide you through to a successful outcome.

At Fountain Filters we know everything about hard water and how it can affect you. Get in touch, and we will help you find the solution to your hard water needs!

FAQs

What's hard water?

Hard water contains higher levels of calcium and magnesium carbonate which shows up in your water as limescale. It's easy to tell if you have hard water as you'll get scale buildup in your kettle, limescale deposits on taps and shower screens. You'll also need to use more soap, shower gel, and detergents. 

Is hard water bad for you?

No, hard water is not bad for you. Calcium and magnesium are essential minerals and should be incorporated into a healthy diet.

What is the water hardness in my area?

It's easy to check the water hardness in your area of the UK. Just visit your water suppliers website and it should tell you about the parts per million (PPM) or milligrams per litre (mg/L) of calcium and magnesium. If you see a number that's 200 or above you have hard water.