The amount of minerals in West Cumbria’s water following a change in supply has increased by more than 12 times.

Since United Utilities began mixing soft and hard water, the amount of calcium carbonate has risen from 6mg per litre to 75mg, meaning it is now classed as “moderately soft”.

The change means West Cumbria’s water is harder than in cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, now that Ennerdale water is getting mixed with that from Egremont boreholes.

The hardest area in Cumbria is Penrith, which has 177mg per litre, with the softest, Keswick, at 3mg.

The hardest in the country is Swindon, which has 349mg per litre.

West Cumbrians are unhappy with the change, which happened in June without any warning.

Many claim it has left them with health problems while others say they are now buying bottled water as they don’t like the taste of tap water.

The first people knew about the switch was following reports of kettles popping when boiling. This led to many people buying new appliances, but the problem continued.

It then came to light that there had been a change in supply.

United Utilities has since said it will refund any of its customers, who have a receipt, who bought a new kettle thinking that theirs had broken.


0-50 soft; 51-100 moderately soft; 101-150 slightly hard; 151-200 moderately hard; 201-300 hard; over 300 very hard.


Following complaints, the company has reassured its customers that the water is safe.

“We perform tests on the water every day and we’re confident it is safe to drink and use as normal,” said Helen Apps, the company’s external affairs manager.

“The Drinking Water Inspectorate has said the same thing.

"If we ever had any concerns about the quality of the water we would let customers know straight away.”

The DWI is carrying out an investigation into the way United Utilities communicated with its customers.

“As part of our investigation, we will look in detail at the actions of the company from when it first altered the supply,” it said.

“We will also review communications with consumers, and we will be contacting a sample of consumers who have raised concerns to enable them to provide their experiences to our investigation.

"All of our investigations are published.”

Click on the map to see how West Cumbria's water compares with other areas.