How hard is the water in Alcorn County, MS?

1.1 grains per gallon

You do not need a softener here.

The median hardness measured in Alcorn County, MS is 19 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 1.1 gpg. That is soft on the USGS scale. It comes from 8 samples at 3 sites between 1991 and 2004, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.

How much it varies here

Half the sites came in between 0.9 and 2.7 gpg. The whole middle of that range gives the same answer, so a test of your own tap is unlikely to change it. Confidence in the county figure: medium (how it is measured).

What to do next

You can skip the softener. At 1.1 gpg the most a softener would fix is the odd water spot. If a salesperson in Alcorn County says otherwise, ask to see their reading in grains per gallon and compare it with this one.

More on when a softener is not worth it.

From 0.8 to 4.2 gpg

The softest single sample on record in Alcorn County was 13 mg/L and the hardest 72.2 mg/L, a 6-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 2.7 gpg and the bottom quarter below 0.9 gpg.

Wells 4.2 gpg, rivers and lakes 0.9 gpg

1 groundwater samples from 1 wells put the median at 72.2 mg/L. 7 surface samples from 2 sites put it at 16 mg/L. In Alcorn County the wells come out 3.3 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. A utility here that draws from the river can deliver noticeably different water from a private well next door.

Alcorn County against the rest of Mississippi

Among the 78 Mississippi counties with data, Alcorn County is number 48 of 78 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 8% of counties.

Softest in Mississippi: Issaquena County at 0.1 gpg. Hardest: Franklin County at 60.5 gpg. Closest to Alcorn County: Jones County (1.1), Forrest County (1.1), Tishomingo County (1.1).