How hard is the water in Clinton County, MI?
12.9 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Clinton County, MI is 220 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 12.9 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 3 samples at 3 sites between 2002 and 2008, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 11.7 and 13.1 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: low (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 12.9 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.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 281 lb of salt a year (8 bags of 40 lb, about $51), 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 $151 a year.
Sizing at 12.9 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 774 | 24,000 | 94 lb |
| 2 | 1,548 | 24,000 | 188 lb |
| 4 | 3,096 | 24,000 | 377 lb |
| 6 | 4,644 | 40,000 | 565 lb |
Clinton County against the rest of Michigan
Among the 82 Michigan counties with data, Clinton County is number 27 of 82 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 61% of counties.
Softest in Michigan: Luce County at 1.9 gpg. Hardest: Wayne County at 47.4 gpg. Closest to Clinton County: Ottawa County (12.9), Jackson County (12.6), Bay County (13.4).