If you’ve noticed signs of hard water in your home, like the buildup of limescale on plumbing fixtures, soap scum on shower doors or difficulty producing a soapy lather, you may be wondering just how hard the water in your home is. And, if you need a Kinetico water softener.
Why Does Guildford, in Surrey, Have Hard Water?
Understanding why many households in Guildford and Surrey have water softeners starts by looking at the geological history of the area. We can then understand further what goes into our tap water.
The southeast of England’s central geological units are chalk, greensands and clays. The chalk sits on top of earlier marine deposits of greensands and gault clay, and terrestrial deposits of the wealden sandstones and clays, all laid down during the 45 million years before the chalk.
During the Cretaceous period, between 75 and 90 million years ago, this part of the country was under a shallow tropical sea. Chalk muds were laid down at the bottom of this sea and were very thick and widespread.
In modern day, the landscape is very different, with the natural surrounding area predominantly consisting of moor-type lands, one example of this is the south downs, which much of the surrounding areas water filters through before joining our rivers.
Naturally occurring minerals such as calcium bicarbonate and magnesium bicarbonate ions dissolve into the water as it comes into contact with soluble sedimentary rocks like limestone, sandstone and chalk.
The presence of these minerals is how we classify water as hard.
Thames Water is the key supplier for the Guildford area, 80% of the water they supply to London, and the surrounding areas comes from rivers, while the remaining 20% comes from our aquifers.
Thames Water will invest more than £55 million over the next five years to upgrade Guildford’s water supply and ensure it can meet increased demand from thousands of new homes.
They Supply millions of people with water by:
Step 1 - Extracting water from rivers and aquifers
Step 2 - Delivering water to your taps.
Step 3 - Collecting the wastewater away
Step 4 - Treating your wastewater.
However, when it comes to the hardness there is nothing your supply can do to reduce the mineral content found within it.
What is Hard Water?
Understanding the difference between soft water and hard water can, at first, be very confusing. But simply put, hard water contains one or multiple minerals that are dissolved into the water from rock and soil.
How Hard is Your Household Water?
When looking for information on how hard your water is in your home, the first place to start would be your supplier's website. Many companies produce an annual report so you can look up your postcode and get a general idea of how hard the water is in your local area.
You can check the quality of your water by simply entering your postcode, and kinetico can provide you with information regarding your household water.
The effects of hard water on your home can be detrimental to both the running cost of your home and the longevity of internal pipes and appliances. To find out about the specific hardness levels in your home water supply, you'll have to conduct testing.
How To Home Test For Hard Water
There are two ways you can test for hard water in your home, and both are incredibly cheap and easy.
DIY Test Kit
One quick and fun way to see if you might have hard water in your home is with a clear, clean, empty bottle with a cap, pure liquid soap and water right from your tap.
You test it in 3 easy steps:
1. Fill the bottle one-third full
2. Add a few drops of pure liquid soap
3. Shake vigorously for a few seconds
If there is a distinct lack of fluffy bubbles and the water appears cloudy and/or milky, your water is hard.
Soft water will have copious bubbles, and the resting water at the bottom of the bottle will be clear.
One thing to note is that if there are bubbles present, you can still have hard water. This is because many soaps are designed to lather and bubble with minimal effort. Try using a basic soap that is free of dyes, perfumes and detergents.
Kinetico Hard Water Test Kits
Kinetico stock our very own hard water testing kits that are easy to use and affordable.
Within the package, you will receive 10 testing tablets and a test tube – that's all you need to see if your house has hard water or not.
The Test Procedure:
1. Collect a water sample of 20 or 50ml in the container provided.
2. Add the correct number of Kinetico Hardness tablets to the water sample.
3. Shake until tablets have completely dissolved and no further colour change occurs.
Results:
- If the water turns red, the total hardness is more than expected.
- If the water turns green, the total hardness is less than expected.
Rinse out and dry the sample container after every test to ensure there is no cross-contamination
Kinetico Home Consultation
To get an accurate picture of the water quality in your home, the best course of action is to have highly trained Kinetico water expert.
In under 45 minutes, our Kintetico water dealer will assess your household water and answer any questions you may have.
At the visit, they will:
- Show you the difference between hard and soft water
- Check your plumbing to make sure a water softener can be installed
- Analyse your water hardness levels
- Recommend the most appropriate water softener for your home
- Answer questions and provide advice
- Provide their lowest written quote
Once the visit is over, you will have all the information you need to make the right choice for your home. You are under no obligation to purchase a water softener treatment system after the consultation.
What Are Your Water Softener Options?
Installing a water softener in your home will alleviate the pesky problems that hard water causes. This includes:
- Limescale
- Corroded Plumbing
- Shorter Lifespan on appliances
- Milky spots on glass
- Dry itchy skin and much more
At Kinetico we stock a range of water softeners – there are a number of different types of water softener available depending on your budget, house size and desired level of performance.
Our famous Kinetico Premier Compact twin-tank system guarantees a constant supply of soft water, 24/7. It is compact and efficient with extra precision hardness technology and is perfect for households with up to three bathrooms.
Our powerhouse Kinetico Premier Maxi water softener is ideal for larger homes, and can support up to six bathrooms, providing perfectly soft water and its built with the same twin-tank technology as the Premium Compact.
To find out more, contact the Kinetico team today, we are always happy to help.
