Rugeley Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Rugeley, the north Staffordshire town on the River Trent at the south-east edge of Cannock Chase between Lichfield and Stafford, is supplied by Severn Trent Water from the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Aquifer underlying the Cannock Chase and Staffordshire plateau. Boreholes in the Trent valley and Cannock Chase sandstone fringe abstract groundwater from this productive Permo-Triassic sandstone, supplemented by blending with treated surface water from the Severn Trent grid. The very high TDS of 696.7 mg/L for a hardness of 233.5 mg/L — a TDS-to-hardness ratio of 2.98 — confirms a significant sulphate and sodium contribution from Keuper Marl (Mercia Mudstone Group) and gypsum and anhydrite evaporite interbeds within the Triassic red-bed sequence beneath Cannock Chase. This evaporite character distinguishes Rugeley's supply from zones served primarily by carbonate-only groundwater sources and explains the very high TDS relative to the hardness classification.

The Sherwood Sandstone (Bunter Sandstone) and overlying Keuper Sandstone and Keuper Marl beneath Cannock Chase and the north Staffordshire plateau carry groundwater enriched in both calcium carbonate (from sandstone cement) and calcium sulphate (from interbedded Triassic gypsum seams). The dissolution of gypsum (CaSO₄·2H₂O) adds non-carbonate hardness and raises TDS without contributing to the standard calcium bicarbonate hardness figure, producing the elevated TDS-to-hardness ratio characteristic of Cannock Chase-area supply. Neighbouring Burntwood (225 mg/L, TDS 664.1) to the south of Cannock shares this Triassic evaporite supply character.

At 233.5 mg/L Rugeley's water is hard and limescale is a consistent domestic concern. Kettle elements should be descaled monthly with a dedicated commercial descaler or citric acid tablet. Shower screens and bath surfaces accumulate calcium deposits rapidly and benefit from fortnightly chemical cleaning with white vinegar or a proprietary limescale remover. Washing-up liquid consumption is elevated. Combi-boilers in Rugeley's colliery-heritage housing need inline scale inhibitors and regular servicing. The old Rugeley Power Station site on the Trent, now decommissioned, once consumed enormous volumes of this mineralised Trent valley water; domestic households continue to manage its limescale legacy.