The Water Institute were delighted to work together over the past number of months with EW Technologies on the very interesting topic of ‘Hardness in Water.’ EW Technologies, based in Blanchardstown, are the largest suppliers of water softeners in Europe and wanted to carry out research on the data available on water hardness in Ireland.
According to the EU Drinking Water Regulations, hardness is not harmful to a person’s health and therefore not required by law to be tested. However, high hardness levels can have an effect on “white appliances” causing them to block and erode, can affect taste on water including coffee and tea and some people also associate hard water as a contributing factor to the skin condition eczema. The research carried out by DCU Water Institute included carrying out a literature review on the papers on the link between water hardness and eczema, collection of water quality results on hardness from each county and research into any maps developed that pinpoint exact levels of water hardness in Ireland.
Unfortunately, data on water hardness is not consistent in Ireland. It would have been very useful to find public and private source results, but we found some very nice maps published by Irish Water and GSI which plot areas of low, medium and high levels of hardness. EW Technologies will use this information and data to inform their customers of areas of high levels of hardness across Ireland and develop their innovative business into the future.