hard and soft water

[susiemj]

How do you know which one you have? I've never known.

Do you get lime scale in your kettle - and if so how much?

If you get lime scale then the water is hard. If you get a lot of lime scale then its very hard.

(OK chemists, I'm ignoring permanent hardness, but I believe its less common...)

Thanks Donk. I've pratcially none. Does that mea it's soft. (It doesn't mean I've descaled my kettle lately, that's for sure!)

If you have no limescale in your kettle, it probably means that your water is quite soft.

That does mean it's soft - you should be able to get more detail from your local water company's website - most of them seem to have a postcode search which will tell you how hard your water is likely to be.

I don't think there's a national one, though Calgon have one, but I'm not sure how much I'd trust them!

Does hard and soft water make a difference to ice cubes?

... also wondering ... does the yorkshire tea 'for hard water' really make a better cuppa in hard water places?

questions questions

I don't believe that it makes any difference to ice cubes - although I generally prefer the taste of hardish water to soft water. If you have lead pipes, hard water leaches less lead from the pipes - but they are very rare nowadays!
I have never tried Taylor's tea for hard water so I can't really comment (although I live in Yorkshire)

It won't make any difference to ice cubes

interesting thought though

definately!