How hard is the water in Emery County, UT?
151.3 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Emery County, UT is 2590 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 151.3 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 57 samples at 27 sites between 1990 and 2023, 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 111.9 and 171.6 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: high (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 151.3 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 16.0 to 257.3 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Emery County was 274.5 mg/L and the hardest 4,404.5 mg/L, a 16-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 171.6 gpg and the bottom quarter below 111.9 gpg.
Wells 151.3 gpg, rivers and lakes 36.7 gpg
57 groundwater samples from 27 wells put the median at 2590 mg/L. 2,610 surface samples from 137 sites put it at 629.1 mg/L. In Emery County the wells come out 114.6 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, the water is harder than a standard single tank handles in a week, so plan on a larger or twin-tank unit. Expect about 3,304 lb of salt a year (83 bags of 40 lb, about $595), 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 $695 a year.
Sizing at 151.3 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9,078 | 64,000 | 1,104 lb |
| 2 | 18,156 | twin tank | 2,209 lb |
| 4 | 36,312 | twin tank | 4,418 lb |
| 6 | 54,468 | twin tank | 6,627 lb |
Emery County against the rest of Utah
Among the 29 Utah counties with data, Emery County is the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 100% of counties.
Softest in Utah: Davis County at 9 gpg. Closest to Emery County: Juab County (28.5), Uintah County (27.9), Salt Lake County (25.9).