How hard is the water in Allegan County, MI?
9.9 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Allegan County, MI is 170 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.9 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 294 samples at 19 sites between 1990 and 2014, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 7 and 13.4 gpg. That spread crosses a decision line, so some homes here land on a different answer. A $10 test strip on your own tap settles it. Confidence in the county figure: high (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 9.9 gpg a softener is worth getting, mainly to protect the water heater and cut soap use. Get at least two quotes, ask each installer what grain capacity they are fitting, and check it against the sizing table below. Because Allegan County straddles a decision line, check your own tap with a $10 test strip before you spend anything.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
From 2.9 to 16.9 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Allegan County was 49 mg/L and the hardest 290 mg/L, a 6-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 13.4 gpg and the bottom quarter below 7 gpg. So even here some sites draw water soft enough to need nothing at all.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 217 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $39), and roughly 2,346 gallons of regeneration water. Installed, most units run $1,000 to $4,500; spread over 15 years with salt, that is about $139 a year.
Sizing at 9.9 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 594 | 24,000 | 72 lb |
| 2 | 1,188 | 24,000 | 145 lb |
| 4 | 2,376 | 24,000 | 289 lb |
| 6 | 3,564 | 32,000 | 434 lb |
Allegan County against the rest of Michigan
Among the 82 Michigan counties with data, Allegan County is number 38 of 82 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 51% of counties.
Softest in Michigan: Luce County at 1.9 gpg. Hardest: Wayne County at 47.4 gpg. Closest to Allegan County: Alpena County (9.9), Barry County (9.9), Antrim County (9.6).