How hard is the water in Campbell County, TN?
7.2 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Campbell County, TN is 123 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 7.2 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 346 samples at 45 sites between 1998 and 2019, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 3 and 9.4 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 7.2 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 Campbell 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 0.2 to 29.2 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Campbell County was 4 mg/L and the hardest 500 mg/L, a 125-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 9.4 gpg and the bottom quarter below 3 gpg. So even here some sites draw water soft enough to need nothing at all.
Wells 8.5 gpg, rivers and lakes 6.8 gpg
1 groundwater samples from 1 wells put the median at 145 mg/L. 345 surface samples from 44 sites put it at 116.5 mg/L. In Campbell County the wells come out 1.7 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 157 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 7.2 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 432 | 24,000 | 53 lb |
| 2 | 864 | 24,000 | 105 lb |
| 4 | 1,728 | 24,000 | 210 lb |
| 6 | 2,592 | 24,000 | 315 lb |
Campbell County against the rest of Tennessee
Among the 95 Tennessee counties with data, Campbell County is number 43 of 95 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 40% of counties.
Softest in Tennessee: Fayette County at 0.5 gpg. Hardest: Fentress County at 42.9 gpg. Closest to Campbell County: Giles County (7), Hamilton County (7), Decatur County (6.8).