Water Hardness and Why it Matters!

What is Hard Water?

How ‘hard’ water is refers to the amount of minerals present in the water. The water gains these minerals from the ground it is sourced from, and in an area like the South East that means water that has passed through a lot of soft chalky limestone and therefore picked up a lot of minerals along the way. You can see the effect of this on your kettle, and the speed with which scale builds up – initially causing a white powdery film, and gradually building to a thick solid layer.

Pictured on the right is a kettle with scale beginning to build up.

(You can check how hard your water is  using a postcode checker on various websites, for example this one)

While water in hard water areas isn’t harmful to you, it can have a very negative effect on your appliances. Build up of scale impacts performance, with appliances having to work harder to achieve the same results, making them less energy efficient, and therefore less cost efficient to run, and eventually causing potentially irreparable damage.

These before and after photos from a boiler we serviced in the South East shows the potential impact of scale build up on the inside of your appliances.

What can I do to prevent build up on my cooler/boiler?

Firstly, if you have a point of use/plumbed in machine, you can add a filter to remove scale from the water flowing into your machine. We have a variety of filters for both hot and cold water machines available here on our website. If you need advice on which to purchase, you are welcome to get in touch!

 Secondly, regular servicing of your cooler/boiler by a qualified engineer can extend the life of your machine and improve energy and cost efficiency. It is recommended that bottled coolers are serviced every 3 months, while plumbed in coolers should be serviced every 6 months, and boilers should be serviced annually. You can arrange for one of our qualified engineers to visit you and carry out a full one off service including cleaning and descaling here