Is the water in Leicester hard?
Yes. Leicester and much of Leicestershire are supplied by Severn Trent, and the water is hard to very hard in many areas. You can usually check the hardness for your postcode on the Severn Trent website.
Hard water carries dissolved calcium and magnesium. It is safe to drink, but when it is heated or left to dry, those minerals leave limescale behind. That is why kettles fur up, shower heads block and glass screens turn cloudy so quickly in homes around Leicester, Oadby and Wigston.
Hard water is one reason people ask us about filters and softeners. The other is taste. Some people simply prefer the taste of filtered water for drinking and cooking, and an under-sink filter saves buying bottled water.
What problems does hard water cause at home?
Mostly limescale. It builds up wherever water is heated or evaporates, and over time it can make appliances work harder and fittings wear out sooner.
The effects you are most likely to notice are:
- Furred kettles
- White scale on the element and flakes in your tea.
- Blocked shower heads
- Weak or uneven spray as the nozzles clog.
- Scaled taps and screens
- Crusty spouts, dripping washers and cloudy glass.
- Appliances
- Scale on washing machine and dishwasher elements can reduce efficiency.
- Soap and detergent
- Hard water lathers less, so people often use more.
What types of water filter and softener can be fitted?
It depends on what you want to fix. A drinking water filter improves the water from one tap. A scale reducer or softener deals with limescale across more of the house.
The main options are:
- Under-sink carbon block filter
- Filters the cold kitchen supply, often through the existing tap or a separate one.
- Reverse osmosis system
- Finer filtering with a storage tank and its own drinking water tap.
- Whole-house or inline filter
- Fitted on the incoming supply to filter sediment or taste for more outlets.
- Polyphosphate scale inhibitor
- A cartridge that aims to limit scale forming, often fitted before a combi or appliance.
- Electronic scale reducer
- Clips around the pipe. Results vary, and evidence is mixed.
- Ion-exchange water softener
- A salt-based unit on the rising main that removes hardness minerals.
Do scale reducers actually work?
Some help, but they are not the same as a water softener. Results depend on the product, your water and how it is installed, so it is worth being realistic before you spend money.
Polyphosphate inhibitors add a small amount of food-safe phosphate that aims to change how scale forms, so less sticks to hot surfaces. They are often fitted to protect one appliance or a combi boiler, and the cartridge needs replacing on the manufacturer's schedule. Electronic and magnetic reducers are easy to fit, but independent evidence on how well they work is mixed, and many people notice little difference.
An ion-exchange softener actually removes the hardness minerals, so it usually has the most noticeable effect. It also costs more, takes up more space and needs salt. We will talk you through the options honestly and help you choose what suits your home and budget.
What does installing a water softener involve?
A softener is plumbed into the incoming cold main, usually close to the stopcock, so that most of the house gets softened water.
What is involved depends on the model and where your stopcock is, but a typical installation usually needs:
- A connection on the rising main
- Usually just after the stopcock, often under the kitchen sink.
- A bypass valve
- Lets you switch the softener out without cutting off your water.
- A drain connection
- For waste water when the softener regenerates.
- An overflow
- Routed safely so excess water has somewhere to go.
- An electrical supply
- Most models need a socket nearby.
- Space for salt
- Room above the unit to lift the lid and refill it easily.
Can I drink softened water?
Common guidance is to keep a separate tap with unsoftened mains water for drinking and cooking. This matters most for making up baby formula, which should not be made with softened water.
Ion-exchange softeners swap hardness minerals for sodium, so softened water has a higher sodium content than the mains supply. That is why a softener is usually installed with the kitchen cold tap, or a dedicated drinking water tap, left on unsoftened water. The Drinking Water Inspectorate publishes general advice on softened water and on water used for babies. Check current guidance, or ask your health visitor or GP if you have concerns.
A drinking water filter can still be fitted on that unsoftened tap if you want better-tasting water as well.
How do I look after a water filter or softener?
Change filter cartridges on the manufacturer's schedule and keep a softener topped up with salt. Both are simple jobs most people can do themselves once they have been shown how.
A few habits keep everything working well:
- Cartridge changes
- Follow the maker's schedule. An old filter stops working properly.
- Salt top-ups
- Check the salt level regularly and use the type the maker recommends.
- Isolation valve
- Know where it is so you can change cartridges without a mess.
- Check for drips
- Look under the sink now and then for weeping joints.
- Keep the manual
- It lists the right cartridges, settings and service intervals.