How hard is the water in Anderson County, TN?
9.5 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Anderson County, TN is 163 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.5 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 6 samples at 5 sites between 1997 and 2022, drawn from groundwater wells, which is what most taps and private wells in the county draw on.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 8.5 and 11.6 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: medium (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 9.5 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 Anderson 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 7.3 to 17.1 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Anderson County was 125 mg/L and the hardest 293 mg/L, a 2-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 11.6 gpg and the bottom quarter below 8.5 gpg.
Wells 9.5 gpg, rivers and lakes 8.5 gpg
6 groundwater samples from 5 wells put the median at 163 mg/L. 384 surface samples from 61 sites put it at 145 mg/L. In Anderson County the wells come out 1.0 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. The two sources are close, so the county figure should hold whichever one your tap is on.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 208 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $37), 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 $137 a year.
Sizing at 9.5 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 570 | 24,000 | 69 lb |
| 2 | 1,140 | 24,000 | 139 lb |
| 4 | 2,280 | 24,000 | 277 lb |
| 6 | 3,420 | 24,000 | 416 lb |
Anderson County against the rest of Tennessee
Among the 95 Tennessee counties with data, Anderson County is number 23 of 95 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 49% of counties.
Softest in Tennessee: Fayette County at 0.5 gpg. Hardest: Fentress County at 42.9 gpg. Closest to Anderson County: Sevier County (9.6), McMinn County (9.3), Sumner County (9.2).