How hard is the water in Alpena County, MI?
9.9 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Alpena County, MI is 170 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.9 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 107 samples at 4 sites between 1990 and 2013, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 9.8 and 10.3 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
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.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
From 9.3 to 11.2 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Alpena County was 160 mg/L and the hardest 192 mg/L, a 1-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 10.3 gpg and the bottom quarter below 9.8 gpg.
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 |
Alpena County against the rest of Michigan
Among the 82 Michigan counties with data, Alpena County is number 37 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 Alpena County: Allegan County (9.9), Barry County (9.9), Antrim County (9.6).