How hard is the water in Forrest County, MS?

1.1 grains per gallon

You do not need a softener here.

The median hardness measured in Forrest County, MS is 18 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 1.1 gpg. That is soft on the USGS scale. It comes from 2 samples at 2 sites between 1991 and 2013, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.

How much it varies here

Half the sites came in between 0.6 and 1.6 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: low (how it is measured).

What to do next

You can skip the softener. At 1.1 gpg the most a softener would fix is the odd water spot. If a salesperson in Forrest County says otherwise, ask to see their reading in grains per gallon and compare it with this one.

More on when a softener is not worth it.

Forrest County against the rest of Mississippi

Among the 78 Mississippi counties with data, Forrest County is number 50 of 78 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 7% of counties.

Softest in Mississippi: Issaquena County at 0.1 gpg. Hardest: Franklin County at 60.5 gpg. Closest to Forrest County: Tishomingo County (1.1), Yalobusha County (1), Alcorn County (1.1).