How hard is the water in Grand Traverse County, MI?
8.2 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Grand Traverse County, MI is 140 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 8.2 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 107 samples at 24 sites between 2001 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 6.4 and 8.9 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 8.2 gpg a softener is worth getting, mainly to protect the water heater and cut soap use. Get at least two quotes, ask each installer what grain capacity they are fitting, and check it against the sizing table below. Because Grand Traverse County straddles a decision line, check your own tap with a $10 test strip before you spend anything.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
From 1.5 to 9.9 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Grand Traverse County was 25 mg/L and the hardest 170 mg/L, a 7-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 8.9 gpg and the bottom quarter below 6.4 gpg. So even here some sites draw water soft enough to need nothing at all.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 179 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $32), 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 $132 a year.
Sizing at 8.2 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 492 | 24,000 | 60 lb |
| 2 | 984 | 24,000 | 120 lb |
| 4 | 1,968 | 24,000 | 239 lb |
| 6 | 2,952 | 24,000 | 359 lb |
Grand Traverse County against the rest of Michigan
Among the 82 Michigan counties with data, Grand Traverse County is number 53 of 82 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 43% of counties.
Softest in Michigan: Luce County at 1.9 gpg. Hardest: Wayne County at 47.4 gpg. Closest to Grand Traverse County: Emmet County (8.2), Newaygo County (8.2), Ogemaw County (8.2).