How hard is the water in Audrain County, MO?
8.6 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Audrain County, MO is 148 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 8.6 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 12 samples at 2 sites between 2013 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 8.4 and 8.9 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: low (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 8.6 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 8.1 to 9.1 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Audrain County was 139.5 mg/L and the hardest 155.5 mg/L, a 1-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 8.9 gpg and the bottom quarter below 8.4 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 188 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $34), 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 $134 a year.
Sizing at 8.6 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 516 | 24,000 | 63 lb |
| 2 | 1,032 | 24,000 | 126 lb |
| 4 | 2,064 | 24,000 | 251 lb |
| 6 | 3,096 | 24,000 | 377 lb |
Audrain County against the rest of Missouri
Among the 110 Missouri counties with data, Audrain County is number 101 of 110 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 45% of counties.
Softest in Missouri: Livingston County at 4.1 gpg. Hardest: Reynolds County at 96.7 gpg. Closest to Audrain County: Ralls County (8.8), Stoddard County (9), McDonald County (9.1).