London conjures up many images. Our iconic skyline. Black cabs. The River Thames.
And for residents battling lacklustre hair and limescale, the contents of said river: the hard water swirling within.
The capital is a notorious hard water area, something true Londoners know only too well.
What is hard water?
Hard water occurs when rain, which falls as soft, passes through porous rock and collects minerals like magnesium and calcium along the way. These impurities lead to a build-up of limescale in your home’s plumbing and various water-using appliances: think kettles, washing machines and dishwashers. It doesn’t exactly make for tasty water either.
Is hard water dangerous for your health?
The short answer is no, hard water won’t adversely affect your health. It is perfectly safe to drink. There is, however, some argument that ingesting too much limescale can cause skin to dry out and zap the shine from your hair.
Taste-wise, you can certainly detect the difference between hard and soft water - something you’ll notice once you’re beyond London’s boundaries.
Can you soften hard water?
While you can’t do much about your water supply, you can enhance the quality of what comes out of your taps before it reaches your lips, and it all boils down to filters.
Swap your current showerhead for one with filters to make the water pouring out softer for your next bath or shower. There are kettles fitted with removable filters to keep limescale out of your brew. Under sink water softeners which need to be installed around your kitchen’s cold water pipes remove and trap impurities from cooking and drinking water to give you a cleaner, fresher-tasting drink.
For those who don’t want to tinker with their pipes, there are countertop water filters which offer a more streamlined way to drink cleaner, purer water. While they are costly, if you’ve got a bottled water habit this will curb your use of single-use plastics dramatically. We’ve found the best ones worth, ahem, splashing out on below.
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Philips Water Station, Hot & Ambient Filtered Water Dispenser
Whether you're thirsty for cold water or want a cleaner cuppa, Philips water dispenser has six temperatures to suit.
This slim countertop device can sit neatly in the kitchen, ready to pour water when you need it. Hot water for tea, coffee, cocoa and cooking is available in seconds thanks to the device's instant heating technology, while volume settings mean you're only using the exact amount required - no wastage.
Hot or cold, water will taste all the more refreshing thanks to the Micro X-Clean Filter which catches contaminants before they reach you. Installation is easy - plug in and go.
Buy now £174.20, Amazon
Aarke Water Purifier Filter Jug
Say hello to your new WFH hydration station. Presented as a stainless steel and glass jug fitted with a filter to clean water as it leaves the spout, there are no plastic parts in this construction, which means there's nothing to compromise the taste of your water. The filter cartridge holds granules to trap nasties and each bag can clean up to 120L of tap water. Comes with a three-year guarantee.
Buy now £99.99, Lakeland
BRITA Marella Water Filter Jug Starter Pack Graphite 2.4L
Perhaps the best-known water filter out there, BRITA has been washing water clean of impurities for years. The starter pack offers the perfect first step with a 2.4L jug fitted with a four-stage filtration to catch impurities like herbicides, pesticides and pharmaceuticals from entering your system.
From the first pour, you'll taste the difference. The plastic jug comes with a cartridge replacement indicator to keep quality high and you'll get three included with the purchase.
Buy now £34.00, Argos
Santevia Gravity Water System Water Dispenser
This electric dispenser is a little different to the others in our edit. Not only does it filter out nasty chemicals and pollutants that have hardened water (think chlorine, fluoride and lead) but it adds in certain minerals for a purer, healthier taste. Your tastebuds will enjoy silky smooth water thanks to the alkaline filters which raise the pH of your H2O (feel like you're back in science class? Us too).
In all, the dispenser can hold up to 10L while the filters should last around four months, meaning great-tasting water can be yours on tap with very little maintenance required.
Buy now £259.00, Amazon
Invigorated Water pH Recharge Glass Alkaline Countertop Water Filter Dispenser
We know how important drinking water is to our health and wellbeing, but if it's poor-tasting tap water that's putting you off, Invigorated Water's elegant design might be the thing to turn the tables. The chic design sees the container standing on a wooden frame to make filling cups and glasses easier.
Simply fill the top chamber with plain old H2O out of the tap and the alkaline filter in the middle will trap all the impurities before funnelling down into the lower compartment. Behold, clean water ready for drinking out of the spigot. Holding two gallons at a time, the filter should last for up to 100 gallons.
Buy now £79.99, Amazon
Aqua Optima Lumi Chilled Water Dispenser
Designed to sit on your kitchen counter, this compact dispenser uses Aqua Optima Evolve Filter Technology to fill your glass with clean, chilled water on demand. While its total capacity is 8.2L, it can filter 5.3L at each time, making it ideal for daily water consumption in small households. It comes with a filter cartridge supplied which should last around a month. Be sure to soak it well first before use.
Buy now £110.00, Argos
Waterdrop G3 Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System
Size: 46L x 14.5W x 44.5Hcm
Watch your daily water consumption shoot up once you’ve fitted Waterdrop’s tankless filtration system to your cold water supply. The machine works by using reverse osmosis and removes unwanted minerals from liquid - think chromium, fluoride, arsenic salt, iron, radium nitrate, calcium, particles, chloride, chlorine and heavy metals like hexavalent chromium, as well as limescale-causing magnesium and calcium. Hydrating yourself has never been tastier.
An activated carbon block made from coconut shell is also part of the design and works to improve the taste of tap water. The highly efficient water flow means you can enjoy clean, filtered water in seconds.
Buy now £359.99, Amazon
BREVILLE Hot Cup VKT124 8-cup Hot Water Dispenser - Black
A kettle by another name, this hot water dispenser from Breville runs on 3000W and offers 1.7L in one go, plenty to make a cuppa for the whole family in one go (up to eight cups). The super-fast heating and simple operation of just one button means you’ll only ever boil what you need, and there’s a safety aspect too in that you don’t need to lift the machine to pour. This too is fitted with a filter to vanquish limescale from your drinks.
Buy now £50.00, Currys
Brita Active Water Filter Bottle
Capacity: 600ml, 1L
If you’re struggling to make the transition from drinking bottled water to using a refillable vessel which is replenished from the tap, you might feel more at ease with a model that filters water as you drink.
The integrated Brita Active Water filter disc removes nasty chemicals such as chlorine from tap water, but ensures key salts and minerals remain flush within your water supply – something that is particularly important for athletes.
Each filtration disc lasts up to one month, and a reusable bottle and three-disc bundle costs under £30, saving you on all that unsustainable and frankly unaffordable fancy bottled stuff.
Buy now £23.00, Amazon
Verdict
Offering both hot and cold filtered water on demand, Philip's water station floats our boat. Second place goes to Aarke for its filter jug: as pleasing to look at as it is to drink from, and portable too.
