How hard is the water in Bossier Parish, LA?
4.1 grains per gallon
Optional: a softener helps, but plenty of homes skip it.
The median hardness measured in Bossier Parish, LA is 71 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 4.1 gpg. That is moderately hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 213 samples at 39 sites between 1990 and 2024, 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 1.5 and 31.8 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 4.1 gpg this is your call. Look for white film on glasses and crust on the shower head: if you see little of either, you can live without one. If you do want one, a 24,000-grain unit is enough, so ask for that size rather than a bigger one. Because Bossier Parish straddles a decision line, check your own tap with a $10 test strip before you spend anything.
More on when a softener is not worth it.
From 0.2 to 60.8 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Bossier Parish was 4.1 mg/L and the hardest 1,040 mg/L, a 254-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 31.8 gpg and the bottom quarter below 1.5 gpg.
Wells 4.1 gpg, rivers and lakes 2 gpg
213 groundwater samples from 39 wells put the median at 70.5 mg/L. 496 surface samples from 9 sites put it at 34 mg/L. In Bossier Parish the wells come out 2.1 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 90 lb of salt a year (3 bags of 40 lb, about $16), 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 $116 a year.
Sizing at 4.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 246 | 24,000 | 30 lb |
| 2 | 492 | 24,000 | 60 lb |
| 4 | 984 | 24,000 | 120 lb |
| 6 | 1,476 | 24,000 | 180 lb |
Bossier Parish against the rest of Louisiana
Among the 64 Louisiana counties with data, Bossier Parish is number 40 of 64 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 27% of counties.
Softest in Louisiana: Lincoln Parish at 0.1 gpg. Hardest: St. Bernard Parish at 53.9 gpg. Closest to Bossier Parish: Ascension Parish (5.6), Caddo Parish (2.6), Livingston Parish (2.3).