How hard is the water in Foard County, TX?
78.7 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Foard County, TX is 1348 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 78.7 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 1 samples at 1 sites between 1996 and 1996, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 78.7 and 78.7 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: low (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 78.7 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.
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 1,720 lb of salt a year (43 bags of 40 lb, about $310), 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 $410 a year.
Sizing at 78.7 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4,722 | 40,000 | 575 lb |
| 2 | 9,444 | 80,000 | 1,149 lb |
| 4 | 18,888 | twin tank | 2,298 lb |
| 6 | 28,332 | twin tank | 3,447 lb |
Foard County against the rest of Texas
Among the 217 Texas counties with data, Foard County is number 10 of 217 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 99% of counties.
Softest in Texas: Nacogdoches County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Ward County at 218.5 gpg. Closest to Foard County: Reeves County (76.7), Collingsworth County (81.1), Coke County (71.9).