Newhaven Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

South East Water supplies Newhaven, the Channel ferry port at the mouth of the River Ouse in East Sussex — a working port town with a ferry service to Dieppe, a historic lifeboat station, and the dramatic chalk cliffs of Seaford Head to the east — from the South Downs Chalk aquifer boreholes blended with River Ouse surface water in the east Sussex supply zone, treated at Arlington Water Treatment Works near Berwick. At 210 mg/L (14.7°Clark), Newhaven's water is hard — reflecting the significant chalk borehole contribution from the South Downs Upper Chalk that supplies the east Sussex coastal zone, partially diluted by the less-hard River Ouse surface supply.

Newhaven sits at the mouth of the River Ouse on the Sussex Coastal Plain, at the point where the chalk cliffs of the South Downs meet the sea. South East Water draws on South Downs chalk boreholes in the Ouse valley, supplemented by surface water from Arlington Reservoir on the Ouse, producing a blended supply at 210 mg/L with TDS 463.8 mg/L — hard but somewhat softer than the fully chalk-dominant West Sussex coastal communities like Rustington (327.5 mg/L) and Worthing, reflecting the surface water dilution in the Arlington surface reservoir blend.

At 210 mg/L, limescale is a consistent household challenge in Newhaven. Kettles benefit from descaling monthly. 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 and prevents chalk staining from building up permanently in this hard east Sussex South Downs chalk and Ouse blend supply zone.