How hard is the water in Dakota County, NE?
32.8 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Dakota County, NE is 562 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 32.8 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 39 samples at 9 sites between 1992 and 2016, 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 26.9 and 34.8 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: medium (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 32.8 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 22.4 to 37.9 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Dakota County was 384 mg/L and the hardest 649 mg/L, a 2-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 34.8 gpg and the bottom quarter below 26.9 gpg.
Wells 32.8 gpg, rivers and lakes 15.9 gpg
39 groundwater samples from 9 wells put the median at 562 mg/L. 23 surface samples from 5 sites put it at 272 mg/L. In Dakota County the wells come out 16.9 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. A utility here that draws from the river can deliver noticeably different water from a private well next door.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 48,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 717 lb of salt a year (18 bags of 40 lb, about $129), 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 $229 a year.
Sizing at 32.8 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,968 | 24,000 | 239 lb |
| 2 | 3,936 | 32,000 | 479 lb |
| 4 | 7,872 | 64,000 | 958 lb |
| 6 | 11,808 | twin tank | 1,437 lb |
Dakota County against the rest of Nebraska
Among the 89 Nebraska counties with data, Dakota County is number 3 of 89 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 96% of counties.
Softest in Nebraska: Blaine County at 2.1 gpg. Hardest: Cedar County at 36.5 gpg. Closest to Dakota County: Harlan County (36.2), Cedar County (36.5), Washington County (23.7).