• Question: why does water taste different in different parts of the county?

    Asked by hollynsarah to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 16 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      It’s amazing how different water can taste in different places, isn’t it! It’s all down to what’s dissolved in the water. “Soft” water is relatively pure, while “hard” water has lots of chemicals called salts (not the sort of salt you use in the kitchen!) dissolved in it; when you boil hard water, these salts precipitate out of it – that’s what limescale is. I prefer the taste of hard water, with lots of salts in it, but I think that’s mostly because I’m more used to it.

    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Because the amount of different minerals dissolved in the water varies across the UK (and the world). ‘Hard’ water has a high mineral content (primarily calcium and magnesium) – although I’m not sure whether people generally prefer the taste of either hard or soft water. I suppose it also depends upon what you grew up with – as this will probably be what you prefer.

    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Water tastes different because it has different minerals and things in it depending what rocks it has been filtered through after it fell as rain. Sometimes it might taste different because of the processes that have been used to make it safe to drink too.

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