Map of water hardness in England & Wales

[Northern_Brewer]

Thought this was a useful one from Nigel Sadler :

 

[dcbrookes]

This is too small a scale to show local variations - do you have a much larger or scalable version?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

This is too small a scale to show local variations - do you have a much larger or scalable version?

Yes - it's called getting the detailed water report from your water company, or getting your individual supply tested.

These things vary too much at a local level for a top-level map to be useful in detail, this is the first time I've ever seen an "overview" map as detailed as this one....

 

[dcbrookes]

Yes - it's called getting the detailed water report from your water company, or getting your individual supply tested.

Just "no" would have sufficed as an answer without the sarcastic addition of things of which I am well aware.

 

[MashBag]

Just "no" would have sufficed as an answer without the sarcastic addition of things of which I am well aware.

I didn't see it as sarcastic.. I though it was funny. Made me chuckle.

 

[DuncR]

Out of interest, does anyone why there are two localised hard water spot in west Lancashire?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Out of interest, does anyone why there are two localised hard water spot in west Lancashire?

There's quite a bit of Carboniferous limestone in the Ribble valley and wiggling its way up to Sunderland so I imagine it continues in a line under Formby/Southport and for some reason they're using boreholes rather than surface water there.

 

[chopps]

I've seen this before, but I do wonder what it actually means. I suspect It's not based on data from the water companies point of delivery (my tap) but rather the local geology as it's just wrong in a lot of places.
I'm right in the middle of a pink area (South Cheshire) but our water supply is mostly from a green bit 30 or 40 miles away (North Wales/Chester).
I guess if I dug a well right here it would be different.

 

[DuncR]

I've seen this before, but I do wonder what it actually means. I suspect It's not based on data from the water companies point of delivery (my tap) but rather the local geology as it's just wrong in a lot of places.
I'm right in the middle of a pink area (South Cheshire) but our water supply is mostly from a green bit 30 or 40 miles away (North Wales/Chester).
I guess if I dug a well right here it would be different.

… and that would make sense when compared to my local United Utilities figures

 

[peebee]

Just "no" would have sufficed as an answer without the sarcastic addition of things of which I am well aware.

Suppose the sarcasm wasn't necessary. But ... That map is based on water supply, not local ground/surface water. So, getting info from your local water company is quite correct. There is no need to have a higher resolution map.

For example: See that island of "soft" water over Birmingham? That's Welsh water supplied from the Elan Valley area.

Ground water / Surface water can be estimated from the Geological Survey maps. I've got links to them if I can find them ...



(And as a sidenote: Water "hardness" is great for an overview - i.e. no detail anyway - but water "hardness" for deducing "detail" is as much use as a chocolate fireguard. Get a water report or specific analysis.).

 

[peebee]

Ground water / Surface water can be estimated from the Geological Survey maps. I've got links to them if I can find them ...

Flippin' heck ... they've retired my favorite colourful map:

Since 2009, BGS has maintained three core map viewer applications:

1. Geology of Britain (classic and 3D versions): a web viewer aimed at the general public
2. iGeology: a native mobile app aimed at the general public
3. GeoIndex: a web viewer aimed at GeoScience professionals.

In the years since their launch, there have been a number of advancements in both browser and mobile technology. We believe that now is the correct time to consolidate some of these services, and our resources, into a new bespoke map viewer that provides greater accessibility and is available to a wider audience. BGS made the decision to retire both iGeology and Geology of Britain, replacing them with the BGS Geology Viewer, a lightweight web-based application aimed at the public for general use, and the BGS GeoIndex, a premium map viewer service for professional use.

But that "lightweight" web-based application (linked in above quote) will do! (Don't forget the layers hidden by default - it gets pretty manic from then on).

That map @Northern_Brewer posted can be downloaded in its magnificent full-size from here:
https://cdn.dwi.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/11171047/hardness-map.pdf
But beware ... that gov.uk map is based on "water hardness". The whole "water" subject got many magnitudes easier to understand (from a beer brewing perspective) when I finally dumped all that arcane "hardness" nonsense (and "as CaCO3" where I could). See my "Defuddler" linked in my signature below (Mobile users: Signatures are hidden in "portrait" mode).