There’s lots to discover about hard water. When your water travels through our region’s unique chalk streams and rivers it becomes rich in minerals, which is good for you and the environment.

Why do we have hard water?

If you live in the East of England, it’s likely you’ll have hard water. This is because millions of years ago, a warmer climate melted the ice in the North and South Poles. Chalk and limestone formed when parts of the UK were at the bottom of a sea that covered a lot of Europe. Hard water areas like ours get groundwater from chalk or limestone rocks.

We’ve got a quick and easy way for you to check your water hardness online. Use our postcode checker to find out if you live in a hard water area.

Hard water made easy

As water navigates through its cycle it absorbs lots of minerals like calcium and magnesium. This makes it great for keeping teeth healthy – and even helps to protect your bones and hearts. We can’t change the natural minerals in the environment across our region, but we can all learn to get the best out of hard water.

Our top tips for hard water can help you tackle hard water naturally.

Follow the journey of your water

To make sure there’s always enough water for everyone, we take our water from more than one place. Sometimes that could be from rivers and reservoirs around our region or from deep underground in things called aquifers.

Find out more about where your water comes from.

Other ways to keep your water healthy: