Patching is a place where hard water abounds

If you are a resident of Patching, West Sussex, you’ll be subjected to hard water – unless you own a water softener. It’s what flows through the mains supply. Hard water results from the area’s predominantly chalky and limestone bedrock. Rainwater is naturally soft, but as soon as it reaches the underlay, which contains an abundance of hard water-causing calcium and magnesium minerals, the water turns much harder.

Hard water isn’t good for many reasons. It washes the living daylights out of skin and hair, impairing their natural softness and vibrancy. Dry skin conditions are worsened hard water, especially those suffering from eczema and dermatitis. If you have soft water on tap, you’ll see the advantages straightaway. Skin and hair adore softened water. Laundry stays softer to the touch instead of going all stiff and starchy as happens with constant exposure to hard water.

Equally bad, unpleasant limescale, which accumulates on kitchen and bathroom surfaces, is caused by hard water. A water softener will get rid of it, stopping the scale from collecting on baths, sinks, shower screens and household appliances. Worse still, limescale is the scourge of central heating systems; it bungs up pipework and water tanks. A system constantly fighting limescale will expend huge amounts of wasted energy to maintain the necessary amounts of heat and hot water. Soft water means reduced energy bills and a healthy, long-lasting boiler.

Patching’s hardness level sits at around 240 parts per million (ppm). Any reading over 200 ppm is considered high – so 240ppm is well up there. A reliable, cost-effective Scott Jenkins Water Softener will ensure that high level reading falls to virtually zero.

Patching – an Overview

Annual rainfall: 23.68 or 601.47mm.

Patching is a small village set amidst the fields and woods of the southern slopes of the South Downs in the National Park, four miles east of Arundel and a quarter of a mile from Clapham, to the north of the A27.

On the South Downs above Patching are groups of neolithic flint mines, represented by slight hollows and mounds. Nearby Michelgrove Park was once the site of a great house, where Sir William Shelley entertained Henry VIII and later home of the Shelley Baronets.