How hard is the water in Covington County, MS?
0.4 grains per gallon
You do not need a softener here.
The median hardness measured in Covington County, MS is 7 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 0.4 gpg. That is soft on the USGS scale. It comes from 1 samples at 1 sites between 2013 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 0.4 and 0.4 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
You can skip the softener. At 0.4 gpg the most a softener would fix is the odd water spot. If a salesperson in Covington County says otherwise, ask to see their reading in grains per gallon and compare it with this one.
More on when a softener is not worth it.
Covington County against the rest of Mississippi
Among the 78 Mississippi counties with data, Covington County is number 70 of 78 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 2% of counties.
Softest in Mississippi: Issaquena County at 0.1 gpg. Hardest: Franklin County at 60.5 gpg. Closest to Covington County: Wayne County (0.4), Hancock County (0.4), Itawamba County (0.4).