How hard is the water in Greeley County, NE?
19 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Greeley County, NE is 325 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 19 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 2 samples at 2 sites between 1992 and 1992, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 17.8 and 20.2 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 19 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, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 415 lb of salt a year (11 bags of 40 lb, about $75), 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 $175 a year.
Sizing at 19 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,140 | 24,000 | 139 lb |
| 2 | 2,280 | 24,000 | 277 lb |
| 4 | 4,560 | 32,000 | 555 lb |
| 6 | 6,840 | 48,000 | 832 lb |
Greeley County against the rest of Nebraska
Among the 89 Nebraska counties with data, Greeley County is number 16 of 89 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 81% of counties.
Softest in Nebraska: Blaine County at 2.1 gpg. Hardest: Cedar County at 36.5 gpg. Closest to Greeley County: Keith County (18.9), Colfax County (19.1), Platte County (18.8).