How hard is the water in Gunnison County, CO?
9.1 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Gunnison County, CO is 156 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.1 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 82 samples at 45 sites between 1990 and 2026, 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 4.5 and 10.7 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 9.1 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 Gunnison 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 1.2 to 25.2 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Gunnison County was 20.8 mg/L and the hardest 431 mg/L, a 21-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 10.7 gpg and the bottom quarter below 4.5 gpg. So even here some sites draw water soft enough to need nothing at all.
Wells 9.1 gpg, rivers and lakes 3.2 gpg
82 groundwater samples from 45 wells put the median at 156 mg/L. 6,990 surface samples from 383 sites put it at 54 mg/L. In Gunnison County the wells come out 5.9 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. A utility here that draws from the river can deliver noticeably different water from a private well next door.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 199 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $36), 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 $136 a year.
Sizing at 9.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 546 | 24,000 | 66 lb |
| 2 | 1,092 | 24,000 | 133 lb |
| 4 | 2,184 | 24,000 | 266 lb |
| 6 | 3,276 | 24,000 | 399 lb |
Gunnison County against the rest of Colorado
Among the 63 Colorado counties with data, Gunnison County is number 39 of 63 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 47% of counties.
Softest in Colorado: Larimer County at 0.4 gpg. Hardest: Mesa County at 143.7 gpg. Closest to Gunnison County: Hinsdale County (9.1), Huerfano County (9.3), Summit County (9.4).