Cranleigh Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

South East Water supplies Cranleigh, the large Surrey village — one of the largest villages in England — in the Weald south of Guildford — a prosperous and well-served community in the Surrey Weald between the North Downs and the South Downs, with an active high street, the oldest village cottage hospital in England (Cranleigh Village Hospital, 1859), and a setting in the tranquil Weald farmland south of the Surrey Hills AONB — from the Lower Greensand (Folkestone Beds, Cretaceous) aquifer boreholes in the mid-Surrey Weald supply zone, treated at Shere Water Treatment Works near Gomshall. At 196 mg/L (13.7°Clark), Cranleigh's water is hard — reflecting the moderately mineralised groundwater from the Folkestone Beds Lower Greensand aquifer of the mid-Surrey Weald, with a relatively low TDS/hardness ratio (2.25) indicating predominantly carbonate hardness from the calcareous Lower Greensand and Chalk rim aquifer contribution.

Cranleigh lies in the mid-Surrey Weald where South East Water draws from the Lower Greensand (Folkestone Beds) — a productive Cretaceous sandstone aquifer that carries moderate calcium carbonate hardness in the Weald syncline south of the North Downs chalk rim. The Lower Greensand supply produces 196 mg/L with TDS 440.4 mg/L — hard water consistent with the South East Water mid-Surrey Weald distribution tier from Guildford (200 mg/L) to Horsham (190 mg/L) in the same Surrey–Sussex Greensand supply corridor.

At 196 mg/L, limescale is a consistent household challenge in Cranleigh. Kettles benefit from descaling every three to four weeks. The combi-boiler should be fitted with a scale inhibitor and serviced annually. Washing-up liquid requires more product per wash than in softer areas. Taps and shower heads develop visible white limescale deposits within one to two weeks; a fortnightly wipe with white vinegar or a proprietary descaling product keeps fittings clean. Cranleigh's hard Greensand supply is characteristic of the mid-Surrey Weald — the Cretaceous Greensand aquifer beneath the village fields providing consistently mineralised water to one of England's largest and most well-appointed village communities.