How hard is the water in Bear Lake County, ID?
17.3 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Bear Lake County, ID is 296 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 17.3 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 98 samples at 31 sites between 1990 and 2023, 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 14.7 and 19.3 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: high (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 17.3 gpg a softener pays its way here. Before you buy, check the quoted unit's grain capacity against the sizing table below, and ask whether it regenerates on demand, which uses less salt than a timer. Call your utility for its own report if you are on city water.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
From 10.3 to 86.5 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Bear Lake County was 176 mg/L and the hardest 1,480 mg/L, an 8-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 19.3 gpg and the bottom quarter below 14.7 gpg.
Wells 17.3 gpg, rivers and lakes 15.9 gpg
98 groundwater samples from 31 wells put the median at 296 mg/L. 97 surface samples from 18 sites put it at 271.4 mg/L. In Bear Lake County the wells come out 1.4 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 378 lb of salt a year (10 bags of 40 lb, about $68), 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 $168 a year.
Sizing at 17.3 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,038 | 24,000 | 126 lb |
| 2 | 2,076 | 24,000 | 253 lb |
| 4 | 4,152 | 32,000 | 505 lb |
| 6 | 6,228 | 48,000 | 758 lb |
Bear Lake County against the rest of Idaho
Among the 44 Idaho counties with data, Bear Lake County is number 4 of 44 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 77% of counties.
Softest in Idaho: Valley County at 1.3 gpg. Hardest: Caribou County at 23 gpg. Closest to Bear Lake County: Twin Falls County (18), Franklin County (16.3), Minidoka County (16.1).