Gosport has hard water. Here’s why.

As with just about everywhere else in Hampshire and the south-east of England, living in Gosport means you are faced with hard water in the mains supply. Don’t blame it on the rain, since it falls naturally soft. The culprit lies in the soil!

Gosport sits on predominantly chalk and limestone underlay. This is rich in magnesium and calcium minerals. As soon as rainwater runs into the soil, the calcium and magnesium components have the effect of turning soft water hard.

For Gosport homeowners who don’t care much for persistently hard water in their mains, the best tactic is to arrange for a water softener to be installed. Why? Well, skin and hair just love soft water; they don’t go all dry as they do with hard water. Instead, they’ll have a silky smooth and vibrant appearance. Laundry, too, responds very well to softened water.

Another major downside of hard water is that it creates limescale build-up around the home. Water softeners are very efficient at getting shot of scale, preventing it from collecting relentlessly in central heating systems and household appliances like dishwashers, washing machines and kettles. Cleaning also becomes much less of a hassle with softened water about the place. Kitchens and bathrooms will retain a pristine and you won’t need to fork out nearly as much for household detergents or on shampoos and gels.

Everything lasts longer with soft water. And that includes your heating system. With hard water out the way, the boiler and pipework won’t have to work so hard and waste unnecessary energy generating the right amount of heating and hot water. A boiler will downgrade after just a few months when battling against hard water. These are not inexpensive pieces of kit to replace!

The water hardness reading in Gosport registers around 283 parts per million (ppm). That’s high! Anything above 200ppm is considered hard.

Gosport – an Overview

Annual rainfall: 30.7inch or 781mm.

Gosport is a town on the south coast of Hampshire, with a population of around 82,000. It is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth, across from the city of Portsmouth. The two conurbations are linked by the Gosport Ferry. To the north-west likes Fareham. Gosport is best-known for being a major naval town associated with the nearby Portsmouth Naval Base.

The Gosport peninsula has a 17 mile waterfront on Portsmouth Harbour and The Solent.

Gosport holds the record for being the largest British town without an operational railway station. It’s often said that the reason for this is that the town doesn’t need a railway station because of its ferry connection to Portsmouth Harbour.