The mains water supply in Patcham is very hard

Living in Patcham, being so close to the Sussex coast with all its chalky underlay, means hard water is the name of the game. Water hardness is created by this chalky bedrock, which is full of hard water-causing magnesium and calcium minerals that transform the composition of naturally soft rainwater.

The best solution for removing hard water is to have a water softener fitted. It’ll provide instant benefits. Our skin and hair adore soft water, as it helps them maintain their natural moistness and vibrancy. This is why softened water is ideal if you suffer from dry skin, or conditions like dermatitis and eczema. Laundry also appreciates softened water.

Limescale, which accumulates on kitchen and bathroom surfaces, is also due to hard water. Water softeners eradicate this nasty build-up, preventing it from collecting in household appliances, in baths, sinks and on your shower screen – no matter how often you clean them. Even worse, hard water-created limescale is a menace for central heating systems. It blocks up pipework and forms in water tanks. The result is that you use unnecessary amounts of costly energy to keep you in heat and hot water. Softened water means lower fuel bills. Furthermore, boilers are far less prone to breakdowns and should last a lot longer before needing replacing.

Patcham’s water hardness level is around 270 parts per million (ppm) – that’s considered very hard. 100 ppm or under is recognised as soft water. With a cost-effective Scott Jenkins Water Softener in situ, your water hardness will plummet to virtually zero.

Patcham – an Overview

Annual rainfall: 35.9inch or 912mm.

Patcham is a suburb of Brighton and Hove, situated about 3 miles north of the city centre. Bounded by the A27 Brighton bypass to the north, Hollingbury lies to the east and Withdean to the south. The main A23 is in close proximity. At the 2011 census, the populations of Patcham stood at 14,277.

Patcham was originally a separate village that developed around the partly 12th- and 13th-century All Saints’ Church, one of the oldest in the Brighton area.

In 1928, boundary changes brought Patcham within the “Greater Brighton” area and, to commemorate this, two large stone pillars, known as the “Pylons”, were erected on the A23 just north of the village, marking the new boundary line.

Patcham Place, dating back to 1558, was the city’s Youth Hostel until September 2007. It is in the old village centre opposite the former post office, in a large area of open parkland. Below it, the Brighton Main Line runs through the 492-yard (450 m) Patcham Tunnel.