How hard is the water in Champaign County, IL?
18.4 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Champaign County, IL is 316 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 18.4 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 57 samples at 20 sites between 1990 and 2018, 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 16.9 and 20.5 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 18.4 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 8.2 to 27.2 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Champaign County was 141 mg/L and the hardest 466 mg/L, a 3-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 20.5 gpg and the bottom quarter below 16.9 gpg.
Wells 18.4 gpg, rivers and lakes 16.4 gpg
57 groundwater samples from 20 wells put the median at 315.5 mg/L. 314 surface samples from 19 sites put it at 281 mg/L. In Champaign County the wells come out 2.0 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 403 lb of salt a year (11 bags of 40 lb, about $72), 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 $172 a year.
Sizing at 18.4 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,104 | 24,000 | 134 lb |
| 2 | 2,208 | 24,000 | 269 lb |
| 4 | 4,416 | 32,000 | 537 lb |
| 6 | 6,624 | 48,000 | 806 lb |
Champaign County against the rest of Illinois
Among the 102 Illinois counties with data, Champaign County is number 44 of 102 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 80% of counties.
Softest in Illinois: Pope County at 4.3 gpg. Hardest: Cook County at 34.8 gpg. Closest to Champaign County: Henderson County (18.4), Hamilton County (18.4), De Witt County (18.5).