How hard is the water in Emmons County, ND?
15 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Emmons County, ND is 256 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 15 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 18 samples at 11 sites between 1990 and 2024, 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 11.4 and 18.5 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 15 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 8.9 to 43.6 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Emmons County was 152 mg/L and the hardest 747 mg/L, a 5-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 18.5 gpg and the bottom quarter below 11.4 gpg.
Wells 15 gpg, rivers and lakes 14.8 gpg
18 groundwater samples from 11 wells put the median at 256 mg/L. 150 surface samples from 5 sites put it at 253 mg/L. In Emmons 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 327 lb of salt a year (9 bags of 40 lb, about $59), 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 $159 a year.
Sizing at 15 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 900 | 24,000 | 110 lb |
| 2 | 1,800 | 24,000 | 219 lb |
| 4 | 3,600 | 32,000 | 438 lb |
| 6 | 5,400 | 40,000 | 657 lb |
Emmons County against the rest of North Dakota
Among the 53 North Dakota counties with data, Emmons County is number 40 of 53 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 69% of counties.
Softest in North Dakota: Hettinger County at 1.1 gpg. Hardest: Walsh County at 54 gpg. Closest to Emmons County: Benson County (14.9), Mountrail County (15.5), Griggs County (14.3).