Maintenance · 4 min read
What Hard Water Does to Your Boiler and Solar Panels
Cyprus has some of the hardest water in Europe. Here is what it is doing to your water heater, and the inexpensive annual service that prevents it.
The white crust inside your tank
Water in Cyprus carries a high level of calcium. Every time the boiler heats up, some of that calcium bakes onto the heating element and the tank walls. It cannot be seen from the outside, but it shows up on the bill: a scaled-up element can use a third more electricity to heat the same water.
The warning signs
A popping or crackling sound while the boiler heats. Hot water running out sooner than it used to. White deposits around the tap aerators and the showerhead. Lukewarm water from a solar panel on a hot August day. Any one of these means scale has already started costing you money.
The service that fixes it
A yearly descale and anode check. The anode is a metal rod inside the tank designed to corrode so the tank itself does not, and in Cypriot water it can be eaten through within eighteen months. Replacing it costs very little. Replacing the tank it was protecting costs hundreds of euros.
A small job once a year
Once a year, before winter, the tank should be descaled, the anode checked and the pressure valve tested. It is the cheapest plumbing maintenance there is in Cyprus, and it is usually forgotten until the element burns out on a Sunday morning.
Prefer to leave it to a professional?
One phone call or one WhatsApp photo is usually enough for us to identify the problem and tell you what the repair involves.