Syston Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Severn Trent Water supplies Syston, the north Leicestershire market town on the River Wreake — a busy community north of Leicester city in the Soar and Wreake valleys, the site of an important Roman villa discovery and a traditional railway town on the Midland Mainline — from Derwent Valley Reservoirs in the Peak District blended with a large proportion of Triassic Mercia Mudstone (Keuper Marl) groundwater in the north Leicestershire distribution zone, treated at Loughborough Water Treatment Works. At 260 mg/L (18.2°Clark) and a TDS of 771.3 mg/L, Syston's water is very hard with a remarkably elevated TDS/hardness ratio (2.97), indicating substantial sulphate content from gypsum (calcium sulphate) dissolution within the Triassic Mercia Mudstone sequence beneath the north Leicestershire plain.

Syston lies in the north Leicestershire lowland where the Triassic Mercia Mudstone (Keuper Marl) — which contains abundant nodular gypsum veins — provides a major groundwater fraction in the Severn Trent north Leicestershire supply blend. Derwent Valley reservoir supply (soft) is blended with a dominant Triassic Mercia Mudstone groundwater component, with gypsum dissolution contributing sulphate to raise TDS to 771.3 mg/L against 260 mg/L hardness — a characteristic sulphate-type hard water signature shared with Ashby-de-la-Zouch (244.5 mg/L, TDS 724.3) and Loughborough (TDS ratios similar) in the same north Leicestershire Triassic supply zone.

At 260 mg/L, limescale is a persistent and significant household problem in Syston. Kettles should be descaled every two to three weeks. The combi-boiler needs a fitted scale inhibitor and annual professional servicing. Washing-up liquid requires generous quantities for adequate lather. Taps and shower heads develop substantial white chalk deposits within a week; a fortnightly descaling with white vinegar or a proprietary product keeps fittings in good condition. The very hard, high-sulphate Triassic supply at Syston is one of the more mineralised in Leicestershire — a direct product of the gypsum-bearing Keuper Marl that underlies the north Leicester plain.