How hard is the water in Dodge County, WI?
17.1 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Dodge County, WI is 293 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 17.1 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 25 samples at 12 sites between 1990 and 2014, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 15.3 and 20.3 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 17.1 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 12.3 to 23.7 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Dodge County was 210 mg/L and the hardest 405 mg/L, a 2-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 20.3 gpg and the bottom quarter below 15.3 gpg.
Wells 19.5 gpg, rivers and lakes 17.1 gpg
1 groundwater samples from 1 wells put the median at 334 mg/L. 24 surface samples from 11 sites put it at 292 mg/L. In Dodge County the wells come out 2.4 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. The two sources are close, so the county figure should hold whichever one your tap is on.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 373 lb of salt a year (10 bags of 40 lb, about $67), 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 $167 a year.
Sizing at 17.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,026 | 24,000 | 125 lb |
| 2 | 2,052 | 24,000 | 250 lb |
| 4 | 4,104 | 32,000 | 499 lb |
| 6 | 6,156 | 48,000 | 749 lb |
Dodge County against the rest of Wisconsin
Among the 72 Wisconsin counties with data, Dodge County is number 18 of 72 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 76% of counties.
Softest in Wisconsin: Vilas County at 1.4 gpg. Hardest: Calumet County at 28.4 gpg. Closest to Dodge County: Crawford County (16.9), Pierce County (16.6), Waupaca County (16.6).