How hard is the water in Eau Claire County, WI?
4.1 grains per gallon
Optional: a softener helps, but plenty of homes skip it.
The median hardness measured in Eau Claire County, WI is 70 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 4.1 gpg. That is moderately hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 79 samples at 21 sites between 1992 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 3.3 and 4.7 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 4.1 gpg this is your call. Look for white film on glasses and crust on the shower head: if you see little of either, you can live without one. If you do want one, a 24,000-grain unit is enough, so ask for that size rather than a bigger one. Because Eau Claire County straddles a decision line, check your own tap with a $10 test strip before you spend anything.
More on when a softener is not worth it.
From 1.0 to 6.1 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Eau Claire County was 16.5 mg/L and the hardest 104 mg/L, a 6-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 4.7 gpg and the bottom quarter below 3.3 gpg.
Wells 4.1 gpg, rivers and lakes 3.9 gpg
1 groundwater samples from 1 wells put the median at 69.8 mg/L. 78 surface samples from 20 sites put it at 67.5 mg/L. In Eau Claire County the wells come out 0.2 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 89 lb of salt a year (3 bags of 40 lb, about $16), 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 $116 a year.
Sizing at 4.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 246 | 24,000 | 30 lb |
| 2 | 492 | 24,000 | 60 lb |
| 4 | 984 | 24,000 | 120 lb |
| 6 | 1,476 | 24,000 | 180 lb |
Eau Claire County against the rest of Wisconsin
Among the 72 Wisconsin counties with data, Eau Claire County is number 54 of 72 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 26% of counties.
Softest in Wisconsin: Vilas County at 1.4 gpg. Hardest: Calumet County at 28.4 gpg. Closest to Eau Claire County: Burnett County (4.2), Barron County (3.8), Dane County (3.7).