How hard is the water in Collin County, TX?
7.9 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Collin County, TX is 135 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 7.9 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 376 samples at 16 sites between 1993 and 2023, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 6.5 and 12.2 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 7.9 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 Collin 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 5.7 to 14.3 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Collin County was 96.8 mg/L and the hardest 245 mg/L, a 3-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 12.2 gpg and the bottom quarter below 6.5 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 172 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $31), 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 $131 a year.
Sizing at 7.9 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 474 | 24,000 | 58 lb |
| 2 | 948 | 24,000 | 115 lb |
| 4 | 1,896 | 24,000 | 231 lb |
| 6 | 2,844 | 24,000 | 346 lb |
Collin County against the rest of Texas
Among the 217 Texas counties with data, Collin County is number 154 of 217 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 42% of counties.
Softest in Texas: Nacogdoches County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Ward County at 218.5 gpg. Closest to Collin County: Lamar County (7.9), Grayson County (7.8), Fannin County (7.9).