Where is the softest water?

[peebee]

See the attached PDF for a view of what I'm talking about. Where it rains a lot, the water is typically soft. The scenery is often nicer in those places too.

…

I liked that map, but then I am a sucker for colourful cartography. One I dug out on an earlier discussion (Jan 2020, but a different forum) was:

Only England and Wales, but a bit more detailed and doesn't suggest my water is harder than somewhere else that I know has harder water. But neither suggest whether they depict "Permanent Hardness" ("true" hardness, due to Calcium and Magnesium salts mainly) or "Temporary Hardness" (Carbonate Hardness, or Bicarbonate mainly), but in the UK they go roughly hand-in-hand. "Alkalinity" has more in common with "Temporary Hardness". The scale on the first map is in "as Calcium Carbonate" but that doesn't mean is Calcium Carbonate of which there will be virtually none in UK water (its a convenient, and arcane, unit label).

Even more colourful and perplexing is maps of the underlying geology like >here<. Now that's Pretty (capital "P"!). Thanks to Eric (different forum) for digging me that one out. Still relevant, you can make estimates of likely water compositions from it, including surface water compositions (leached from "superficial deposits" - I had never guessed they went to such detail! You can turn "superficial deposits" off if they induce headaches!).

 

[peebee]

No it doesn't.

Yes it does!

And I'm taking your list of "likes" as evidence of how far the rot has progressed

 

[Galena]

Yes it does!

And I'm taking your list of "likes" as evidence of how far the rot has progressed

Untreated sure, but most water can benefit from some treatment and soft water is easy to treat.

 

[West wind]

The beer from Williams Bros in Alloa is superb

Agreed! I like their Joker IPA. The Caesar Augustus lager/IPA hybrid is a bit light and fizzy for me but tastes very nice.

 

[Brew_DD2]

Agreed! I like their Joker IPA. The Caesar Augustus lager/IPA hybrid is a bit light and fizzy for me but tastes very nice.

Their dark beers are very good. March of The Penguins, and Midnight Sun are excellent.

 

[terrym]

I'm astounded that anyone wanting to move anywhere would be location driven by the relative hardness or softness of the water that comes through their mains tap. Treat it at the point of entry if its so important.
Surely there are much more important things to consider.

 

[peebee]

Untreated sure, but most water can benefit from some treatment and soft water is easy to treat.

Shhh! I know you kick about that "other" forum where I'm quite happy putting the shoe on the other foot. I like playing devil's advocate, and some threads need one!

 

[Galena]

Shhh! I know you kick about that "other" forum where I'm quite happy putting the shoe on the other foot. I like playing devil's advocate, and some threads need one!

Ahh, okay I won't list all the successful breweries within a few miles of my house then

 

[pms67]

Someone is at the wind up

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Peebee
I come from Northwich and our water came straight from the Salt mines but it had too much NA and Cl in it. Good for swimming in our local baths but not for brewing.

 

[Leon103]

See the attached PDF for a view of what I'm talking about. Where it rains a lot, the water is typically soft. The scenery is often nicer in those places too.

I'm in the east so I've just been down to Tesco for 30 litres of Ashbeck for this weekends brewing.

Think that may be wrong. I live in an area marked moderate, my water is also from that area. But my water profile comes out soft.

 

[peebee]

Think that may be wrong. I live in an area marked moderate, my water is also from that area. But my water profile comes out soft.

It's not "wrong" as such, but very coarse resolution. So often "misleading". I was grousing about it when peering over my rose-tinted glasses (…. but it's pretty, pretty!). I posted a more detailed map (England and Wales); is that better?

My map is a bit titchy; I need @Leon103 to tell me how he got to post bigger images. Else I might resort to linking images off-site?

 

[Leon103]

It's not "wrong" as such, but very coarse resolution. So often "misleading". I was grousing about it when peering over my rose-tinted glasses (…. but it's pretty, pretty!). I posted a more detailed map (England and Wales); is that better?

My map is a bit titchy; I need @Leon103 to tell me how he got to post bigger images. Else I might resort to linking images off-site?

I just quoted someone else's post.

Looking at the map you posted it listed my area as soft which it is. The water source is a couple of miles away. Most of the water around here gets piped across the border.

 

[peebee]

I just quoted someone else's post.

Oops, sorry. Bit of lack of attention on my part there. Let me try and put that right …

… My map is a bit titchy; I need @foxbat to tell me how he got to post bigger images. Else I might resort to linking images off-site?

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

I’m from Sheffield in the Peoples Republic of South Yorkshire originally. Water comes from reservoirs on Pennine gritstone and is quite soft.

 

[foxbat]

I might resort to linking images off-site?

That's how I do it. imgur.com is my choice for easy image hosting without having to create accounts or any of that nonsense.

 

[peebee]

@foxbat: Nope, I can't get it. I try to insert an image (Web link) and get the very helpful () "Something went wrong. Please try again or contact an administrator.". So, I can only do the boring way (no picture displayed).

Water Hardness in UK

 

[foxbat]

@foxbat: Nope, I can't get it. I try to insert an image (Web link) and get the very helpful () "Something went wrong. Please try again or contact an administrator.". So, I can only do the boring way (no picture displayed).

Water Hardness in UK

1. Drag and drop the image file you want to display from your PC to the imgur website home page window. It should auto-upload. There's also a green "New Post" button on the home page if drag-and drop doesn't work.

2. Hover the mouse over your uploaded image and click the "..." menu at the top:

Click "Get share links" then click on and copy-paste the "BBCode (Forums)" text that appears into your post:

 

[Chippy_Tea]

A guide on how to add pictures to posts - How to add a picture to a post.

I use postimage and have for ages no registration required - Postimages — free image hosting / image upload

 

[BlackRegent]

I'm in South Manchester and can confirm that the water (United Utilities) is very soft. I can do Pilsners out of the tap and make additions for pretty much everything else.

My Brewfather water profile is as follows:

Ca+2 (9)
Mg+2 (1)
Na+ (6)
Cl- (11)
SO4 (18)
HCO3 (21)