How hard is the water in Caledonia County, VT?
7 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Caledonia County, VT is 120 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 7 gpg. That is moderately hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 20 samples at 12 sites between 1991 and 2025, 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 5 and 11.1 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 7 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 Caledonia 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 1.1 to 22.8 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Caledonia County was 18 mg/L and the hardest 391 mg/L, a 22-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 11.1 gpg and the bottom quarter below 5 gpg. So even here some sites draw water soft enough to need nothing at all.
Wells 7 gpg, rivers and lakes 4.8 gpg
20 groundwater samples from 12 wells put the median at 120 mg/L. 1,480 surface samples from 179 sites put it at 81.4 mg/L. In Caledonia County the wells come out 2.2 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 153 lb of salt a year (4 bags of 40 lb, about $28), 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 $128 a year.
Sizing at 7 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 420 | 24,000 | 51 lb |
| 2 | 840 | 24,000 | 102 lb |
| 4 | 1,680 | 24,000 | 204 lb |
| 6 | 2,520 | 24,000 | 307 lb |
Caledonia County against the rest of Vermont
Among the 14 Vermont counties with data, Caledonia County is number 2 of 14 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 39% of counties.
Softest in Vermont: Essex County at 1 gpg. Hardest: Orange County at 7.7 gpg. Closest to Caledonia County: Orange County (7.7), Windsor County (5.3), Windham County (5.2).