You can blame it on the rain – but that would be unfair! When water falls as rain it is actually soft – it’s what happens to it when it reaches the ground that turns the water hard. Here’s the reason. In West Sussex, as with large parts of the south of England, the underlying soil is made up of chalk or clay. Along with other components, chalk and clay is rich with calcium and magnesium minerals. When the water comes into contact with these minerals, it has the effect of turning the water from soft to hard. So, if you aren’t too keen on having hard water permanently flowing through your taps, the best thing you can do is to have a water softener installed in your property.

In Yapton, the water hardness measurement is generally around 282 parts per million (ppm). This reading can fluctuate a little, depending on the level of rainfall – the more it rains, the harder the water. Any reading above 200ppm is considered to be hard. With a soft water system in place, you’ll this figure will drop to well under 100ppm.

Annual rainfall: 19.65inch or 499mm.

Yapton is a village lying in the Arun District of West Sussex, a few miles north of Bognor Regis and south-west of Arundel, nestled between the South Downs and the coast. The parish also contains the settlements of Bilsham and Flansham. At the 2011 census, the population was 5,926. In the centre of the village, the parish church of St Mary the Virgin houses a 12th twelfth-century font.
Historically, the now disused Portsmouth and Arundel Canal, which runs through Yapton, linked the nearby River Arun to Portsmouth Harbour. The Canal was a key part of the strategic inland shipping route between London and Portsmouth, that kept cargo, such as agricultural goods and munitions, safe from French attacks in the Channel.