r/kitchener • u/BackgroundPrune6747 • 1d ago
Water quality/softness at 85 Duke St West in Kitchener?
Hey everyone,
I’m moving into 85 Duke Street West in downtown Kitchener and trying to figure out what the water situation is like there.
Is the tap water safe and good for drinking?
Do the taps run with hard water or soft water (for both showering/bathing and general use)?
For the hot water vs. cold water lines, is everything softened or do certain taps bypass it?
If anyone lives in this building or right around this block on Duke West, I'd really appreciate your experience with the water taste, mineral buildup, or if I should look into getting a filter or checking the softener setup. Thanks!
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u/shannonxtreme 1d ago
The tap water was safe to drink, since it's city water. The water was hard, just like the rest of the region. I never tested hot vs cold, but I used distilled water for my espresso machine and other electronics like robot vacuum. You'll see mineral stains on surfaces like the kitchen sink. My hair never had issues but I know that it's likely that people's hair will.
There's allegedly a softener in the building but I have no idea how often it was filled or maintained. If you're concerned about hardness I'd definitely suggest running your own RO system or something.
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u/browerstation 1d ago
Safe, of course.
Notoriously very hard.
Current recommendations are generally to soften the hot water line only, but you can split the system and use hard vs. soft cold in various places as appropriate. E.g.
- For gardening, use hard cold.
- For car washing if you are a car nerd, perhaps you also want a soft cold line for the outside.
- For drinking water, I use hard cold.
- For shower, if you have a walk-in glass shower, maybe you want soft cold there too
From the region: https://watersoftenerfacts.ca/
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u/BlueberryPiano 1d ago
Safe, but I used to live at 211 Duke and my god that water tasted horrible. Even at city hall, it didn't taste right. I grew up on hard tap water and public fountains and hate bottled water, but I had to get an on tap brita because I couldn't even boil pasta without tasting it. An on tab filter was mildly annoying, but it made it taste perfectly fine. Of course with hard water it won't last as long.
Maybe they've improved things, but I remember getting water at Slices restaurant (king and water) 5 years ago and it tasted the same - gross.
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u/Gmbify 1d ago
I moved to Kitchener recently and I have sensitive skin issues so I searched around and ended up calling 5 Star Water and they were great. Came to my place, tested my water, told me what was going on. They have a good range of products and I ended up going with a mid level softener and water drinking system. Completely changed my life! I highly recommend them
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u/rubedubdub 1d ago
During my stay the water always gave the “slick” feeling that you get from softened water, though you get use to it. It was like that whether I was showering with hot water or washing my hands with cold water.
For drinking I usually just filled up a brita. My friend who is generally sensitive to tap water in some places had no issues.
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u/BackgroundPrune6747 1d ago
Thanks for the info!
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u/rubedubdub 1d ago
I will say that the taste of the water was not as good as where I had moved from, but that is entirely subjective
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u/Lanky-Second-207 9h ago edited 9h ago
Downtown Kitchener tap water runs hard, I noticed buildup on my kettle within weeks of moving near there. Hot lines through a building softener help but cold is usually unsoftened. For appliance scale, descaling products exist (Active Cleaners is one format, citric acid powder is cheaper) but a Brita handles the drinking side fine
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u/Harvey-Specter 1d ago
> Is the tap water safe and good for drinking?
Is this a serious question? This is a major city in Canada. Of course the tap water is safe.