Hard water and making tea :(

pigpen

Ours comes out the tap thick enough to stand a spoon in!

I rinse out the kettle every morning
I chip off thick limescale with a knife
I have kettles with a built in filter.. and buy spare filters!!
I buy cheap kettles because they last about 5 minutes!

The slick on top of tea is from leaving it without milk.. such as in a teapot!.. put the milk in first then add the water.. I can't drink slicky tea!.. or the last cm in the mug as its usually crispy with scale!

jk0

ravilious_fan wrote: »

I have found that using a water filter jug helps a lot, but the best thing, according to our plumber, is to fit a water softener gadget in the pipe beneath the kitchen sink.

I've had a water softener for about 15 years now. It does make lovely tea, and I used it for that for about 5 years. However, I kept getting very bad headaches. These were so bad I had difficulty getting out of bed!

When I was away from home, the problem disappeared. Eventually I worked out that the sodium ions that end up in the softened water were causing the problem.

I still have the water softener, and actually fit them in all my rentals, but I always warn my tenants only to drink from the hard water tap. Since I packed up drinking the soft water, the headaches have gone.

JustKeepSwimming_2

jk0 wrote: »

I've had a water softener for about 15 years now. It does make lovely tea, and I used it for that for about 5 years. However, I kept getting very bad headaches. These were so bad I had difficulty getting out of bed!

When I was away from home, the problem disappeared. Eventually I worked out that the sodium ions that end up in the softened water were causing the problem.

I still have the water softener, and actually fit them in all my rentals, but I always warn my tenants only to drink from the hard water tap. Since I packed up drinking the soft water, the headaches have gone.

I looked at getting a water softener fitted & the plumber said I'd need to ensure I had a separate, non-softened drinking water supply as drinking softened water was a very bad idea long term. This was a chemical (salt) water softener, so I don't know if other types of softened water are OK to drink. I've lived in a few places that have chemical water softeners fitted & there has always been a separated drinking water supply, & friends who have them fitted locally also have separate drinking water.

When my (admittedly bonkers) Dad was still alive he claimed his GP advised him to drink a teaspoon of hard water each day (he lived in a soft water area) to help ensure he got enough calcium, magnesium etc. & I used to have to take a few bottles with me whenever I went to see him :rotfl:

No advice about tea making really, as I get through a kettle every year & am just resigned to drinking scummy tea

MallyGirl

the cold tap in the kitchen is non softened so that is the one we fill the BRITA filter from. Our kettle doesn't have an exposed element so that might help. I can always tell when the jug filter needs changing just by looking at the tea. I can tell when the softener needs more salt as my hair feels 'crunchy'!

BigMummaF

Wow! Thank you all for your advice; it's nice to know we're not alone in being particular about our cuppa 😃

Thanks for the heads up Nargle, & we do use the hard water teabags most of the time (I buy them up when they're on a good offer ) I resisted for a l-o-n-g time, thinking it was a gimmick, but they do give a lovely taste. At home I use own label but one of The Offspring prefers a particular brand, the cheeky monkey

Had a look at that link bossy but muvva's place is almost 50years old so the sockets are nowhere close enough to the water to be of any use

I think we will have a go with the jug filter next, providing I can persuade mum to join in of
course!

Anne_Marie_2

Coming from Scotland, where the water is lovely and soft, and never seeing scale on anything in my life, coming to Cyprus was a bit of an eye opener. It's a pain in the neck, well rather in the toilet, in the kettle, on the taps, sinks, anywhere you have water.

I notice some have mentioned water softeners. I was of the impression that this was not suitable for drinking, but fine for other household uses. I did look into this, and decided against, as the whole thing was to have scum and scale free drinking water for tea/coffee etc.

A water filter jug is a good way to start to see if it works for you, as in the grand scheme of things, it's not an expensive purchase.

I did this for a good while, and found that there was still a bit of scale on the kettle, however, nothing like when the water was straight from the tap. I went through 3 kettles with hidden elements in a relatively short period, and decided to go with bottled water for all drinking and cooking purposes. Since then, absolutely no scale whatsoever in my kettle or pots.

I can get 19 litre bottle of water for around £1.25 at todays rate of exchange (the water bottle is extra, but you only buy it once, take it back and get another bottle of water). I have a few, as I have one of those drinks coolers, which also gives out hot water. However, you can get a pump top for the water bottles, so always have one for room temp water for cooking, filling up the kettle, and for washing of salad stuff. (I can actually get bottled water even cheaper from my local village council, which is what I do, but just quoting shop prices).

If the filter jug doesn't work for you, really hope that it does,
I'd be inclined to check out what prices they charge for large bottled water carriers in your area.

I use citric acid for descaling anything which is stainless steel such as kettle, taps, shower heads and the metal bit at the bottom of sinks, whatever that is called.

BigMummaF

Apologies for my tardiness: how dare real life get in the way of catching up with my MSE pals :rotfl:

After reading through your advice, I bought a jug thingy (£8:50 in MrT! Bargain :money: ) & it has greatly improved the situation...well...when Imake the tea Muvva, sadly, has fallen victim to Alzheimer's so doesn't "adapt" as well to change. Not one of the biggest issues we have to manage & there's always an up side; I've been promoted to Chief Tea Maker

KeepOnKnitting

Much love for you and your Muvva, from a paid carer to one even braver. Enjoy your tea.