Our local water supply changed briefly for 3 or 4 weeks. It had been showing mid 400ppm hardness then went down to around 170. Great. Loved it.
So today I checked again before another water change in a tnk, and it's back up to 436pp.
Damn sick of it and I would love to be back with the soft water.
I don't expect anything to come of it but I've contacted the water authority and pointed them to some facts. As follows:
As the Authority will know, the water being used by the households and businesses in this vicinity is drawn locally; I believe from an underground source at or near Castle Eden. The water hardness, ie GH and HK, is very high in comparison to other local-ish sources. This is evidenced by the recent supply being drawn from another source following an apparent electrical fault at the usual Castle Eden sources pumping station. At this temporary change of supply, the water hardness dropped around 65% from roughly 460ppm to 170ppm on the GH scale. The difference was considerable and was apparent by the feel of the water in a shower, the lack of carbonates in coffee etc. In fact, as an avid aquarist it impacted greatly on how I managed the water quality to suit the different species of fish and shrimp kept in tanks, all of which require different GH and KH measures. The change to softer water made it much easier to control each water change.
That aside, it has been shown that you are able to supply water of a low hardness content and I believe you should be informed of how much this affects local business and households.
You will be well aware that extremely hard water has a negative effect on appliances and such other things that use the water supplied. Water heaters, and the pipes leading to and from them are subject to a great build up of calcium. Kettles are damaged and the water leaves large amounts of calcium deposits on the heating element inside the kettles. Radiators are at risk of limescale build up and costly repair or replacement. Washing machines and dishwashers also suffer from high water hardness that makes eventual replacement of them much earlier than would happen with a soft water source. Even clothes that are constantly washed in hard water wear out quicker.
The cost to homes, and especially businesses, in the mitigation of such potential damage is much larger than it is to the businesses etc, that are supplied with softer water. As some businesses use very large amounts of water they must suffer proportionately large repair or replacement costs. In effect, the difference in water hardness imposes a financial penalty to those parties that have to use the hard water supply. The use of hard water by households in everyday activities such as showering, is problematic and unsatisfactory as the feel of the water is harsher and can cause skin problems over the use of soft water. This is also evidenced by the shorter life span of fish in harder or even softer water than the species normally lives in, in the wild. It results in deformities of the bone structure, in particular the spine which arches up. While there may not be conclusive evidence that humans are subject to similar bodily malformation it does however lend itself to the potential of it. Research does show that hard water does have an effect of causing dry skin and itchy dry scalp and I suffer hugely from both of these problems.
I would expect that having to use hard water should be subject to some price adjustment to the water rates to offset the inconvenience and ongoing costs associated, such as the faster wear of water handling machinery and household machines. In fact, as we know, soft water is available and I would request that it be supplied to the area as standard. If full changeover is impossible, then perhaps a mix of the current water with the soft water to bring down the hardness to something more acceptable would be possible.
Kind regards
So today I checked again before another water change in a tnk, and it's back up to 436pp.
Damn sick of it and I would love to be back with the soft water.
I don't expect anything to come of it but I've contacted the water authority and pointed them to some facts. As follows:
As the Authority will know, the water being used by the households and businesses in this vicinity is drawn locally; I believe from an underground source at or near Castle Eden. The water hardness, ie GH and HK, is very high in comparison to other local-ish sources. This is evidenced by the recent supply being drawn from another source following an apparent electrical fault at the usual Castle Eden sources pumping station. At this temporary change of supply, the water hardness dropped around 65% from roughly 460ppm to 170ppm on the GH scale. The difference was considerable and was apparent by the feel of the water in a shower, the lack of carbonates in coffee etc. In fact, as an avid aquarist it impacted greatly on how I managed the water quality to suit the different species of fish and shrimp kept in tanks, all of which require different GH and KH measures. The change to softer water made it much easier to control each water change.
That aside, it has been shown that you are able to supply water of a low hardness content and I believe you should be informed of how much this affects local business and households.
You will be well aware that extremely hard water has a negative effect on appliances and such other things that use the water supplied. Water heaters, and the pipes leading to and from them are subject to a great build up of calcium. Kettles are damaged and the water leaves large amounts of calcium deposits on the heating element inside the kettles. Radiators are at risk of limescale build up and costly repair or replacement. Washing machines and dishwashers also suffer from high water hardness that makes eventual replacement of them much earlier than would happen with a soft water source. Even clothes that are constantly washed in hard water wear out quicker.
The cost to homes, and especially businesses, in the mitigation of such potential damage is much larger than it is to the businesses etc, that are supplied with softer water. As some businesses use very large amounts of water they must suffer proportionately large repair or replacement costs. In effect, the difference in water hardness imposes a financial penalty to those parties that have to use the hard water supply. The use of hard water by households in everyday activities such as showering, is problematic and unsatisfactory as the feel of the water is harsher and can cause skin problems over the use of soft water. This is also evidenced by the shorter life span of fish in harder or even softer water than the species normally lives in, in the wild. It results in deformities of the bone structure, in particular the spine which arches up. While there may not be conclusive evidence that humans are subject to similar bodily malformation it does however lend itself to the potential of it. Research does show that hard water does have an effect of causing dry skin and itchy dry scalp and I suffer hugely from both of these problems.
I would expect that having to use hard water should be subject to some price adjustment to the water rates to offset the inconvenience and ongoing costs associated, such as the faster wear of water handling machinery and household machines. In fact, as we know, soft water is available and I would request that it be supplied to the area as standard. If full changeover is impossible, then perhaps a mix of the current water with the soft water to bring down the hardness to something more acceptable would be possible.
Kind regards
my tap water is very soft. I'm pretty much done with guppies.
