Hard water solutions in Cambridge
Cambridge has hard water. Here is what that does to your home, what genuinely fixes it, what only appears to, and who can fit it locally.
Hard
Cambridge Water, Anglian Water
Water in Cambridge
- Cambridge has some of the hardest water in the UK, drawn entirely from chalk boreholes and commonly above 300 mg/l CaCO₃.
- Cambridge Water supplies a compact area with unusually little variation, so unlike most places the local figure really does apply across the city.
- The chalk aquifer beneath Cambridge is under significant abstraction pressure, and water resources are an active local issue alongside the city's rapid growth.
- The University and the surrounding research and biotech sector generate substantial demand for laboratory-grade purified water, which is a specialist commercial market barely present in most comparable cities.
- Limescale is severe enough in Cambridge that scale protection is effectively standard practice at boiler installation.
You have hard water — scale protection is worth having.
The World Health Organization notes that water at 200 mg/l or above will produce scale, and that is where this band begins. At this level limescale is a recurring cost rather than an occasional nuisance, and many boiler manufacturers require scale protection to keep the warranty valid. A softener is worth costing out properly.
Who supplies Cambridge
Water company boundaries do not follow council boundaries. Check your postcode for the supplier at your address.