Top 10 hard water areas in the UK (calcium carbonate levels

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suffolk

suffolk

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Just my luck to be the top

1. Ipswich - 423 mg/l
2. Colchester - 379 mg/l
3. Luton - 360 mg/l
4. Norwich - 359 mg/l
5. Watford - 358 mg/l
6. Stevenage - 355 mg/l
7. Swindon - 343 mg/l
8. Harrow - 335 mg/l
9. Hemel Hempstead - 333 mg/l
10. St Albans - 323 mg/l

As seen in the EADT newspaper
 
I'm a science teacher in Norwich & our site team genuinely have to drill out the limescale in our lab taps on a yearly basis!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
I'm in Greenford. 121mg/l calcium, 303mg/l "total hardness", according to Affinity water. Day'um.
 
I do need to buy a new kettle every year, as it furs up so quick.
So from the start I am using bottled water on the GF
 
I distinctly remember being told as a kid that hard water makes better beer, but the prevailing opinion on this forum seems to be that soft water is better.

I know the presence of sulphates can help hoppy beers, I assume because it helps extract the oils from the hops or something. But why is a high calcium/magnesium content bad?
 
Thumper said:
I distinctly remember being told as a kid that hard water makes better beer, but the prevailing opinion on this forum seems to be that soft water is better.

I know the presence of sulphates can help hoppy beers, I assume because it helps extract the oils from the hops or something. But why is a high calcium/magnesium content bad?
Click to expand...

I thought it was soft water for pales, hard water for stouts/porters/milds
 
Thumper said:
I distinctly remember being told as a kid that hard water makes better beer, but the prevailing opinion on this forum seems to be that soft water is better.

I know the presence of sulphates can help hoppy beers, I assume because it helps extract the oils from the hops or something. But why is a high calcium/magnesium content bad?
Click to expand...

You're right, it's a common misconception that hard water is bad for brewing. High alkalinity (measured in ppm as calcium carbonate) is bad, hardness (combination of calcium and magnesium) is good. The reason it's commonly misunderstood is because hard water usually is high in alkalinity too, but not always, and they are confusingly sometimes reported in the same units. If getting a water report for brewing and it gives a value for hardness as CaCO3 then ignore it, it is a useless value for brewing purposes.
 
strange-steve said:
You're right, it's a common misconception that hard water is bad for brewing. High alkalinity (measured in ppm as calcium carbonate) is bad, hardness (combination of calcium and magnesium) is good. The reason it's commonly misunderstood is because hard water usually is high in alkalinity too, but not always, and they are confusingly sometimes reported in the same units. If getting a water report for brewing and it gives a value for hardness as CaCO3 then ignore it, it is a useless value for brewing purposes.
Click to expand...

Thanks Steve. What I really want is a pH value, then. I took a look at the full report, and it doesn't give one. Total Hardness is given in mg/l (ppm) CaCO3. Alkalinity is given as mg/l (ppm) HCO3.

I don't think in parts per million of Bicarb. In case anyone else does, it's 267mg/l.

That aside, I guess what I really want to know is why alkaline water is bad for brewing.
 

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