How hard is the water in Clinton County, MO?
11.4 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Clinton County, MO is 195 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 11.4 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 5 samples at 1 sites between 2012 and 2013, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 11.4 and 11.4 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 11.4 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 11.4 to 11.4 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Clinton County was 195 mg/L and the hardest 195 mg/L, a 1-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 11.4 gpg and the bottom quarter below 11.4 gpg.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 249 lb of salt a year (7 bags of 40 lb, about $45), 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 $145 a year.
Sizing at 11.4 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 684 | 24,000 | 83 lb |
| 2 | 1,368 | 24,000 | 166 lb |
| 4 | 2,736 | 24,000 | 333 lb |
| 6 | 4,104 | 32,000 | 499 lb |
Clinton County against the rest of Missouri
Among the 110 Missouri counties with data, Clinton County is number 67 of 110 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 56% of counties.
Softest in Missouri: Livingston County at 4.1 gpg. Hardest: Reynolds County at 96.7 gpg. Closest to Clinton County: Moniteau County (11.4), Nodaway County (11.4), Webster County (11.4).