How hard is the water in Hancock County, IN?
18.5 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Hancock County, IN is 317 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 18.5 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 189 samples at 51 sites between 1992 and 2023, 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 17.4 and 21 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: high (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 18.5 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.
From 11.6 to 30.6 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Hancock County was 198 mg/L and the hardest 524 mg/L, a 3-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 21 gpg and the bottom quarter below 17.4 gpg.
Wells 18.5 gpg, rivers and lakes 18.1 gpg
189 groundwater samples from 51 wells put the median at 317 mg/L. 597 surface samples from 7 sites put it at 310 mg/L. In Hancock County the wells come out 0.4 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. The two sources are close, so the county figure should hold whichever one your tap is on.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 404 lb of salt a year (11 bags of 40 lb, about $73), 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 $173 a year.
Sizing at 18.5 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,110 | 24,000 | 135 lb |
| 2 | 2,220 | 24,000 | 270 lb |
| 4 | 4,440 | 32,000 | 540 lb |
| 6 | 6,660 | 48,000 | 810 lb |
Hancock County against the rest of Indiana
Among the 91 Indiana counties with data, Hancock County is number 28 of 91 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 80% of counties.
Softest in Indiana: Brown County at 3.8 gpg. Hardest: Warrick County at 40.3 gpg. Closest to Hancock County: Grant County (18.5), Boone County (18.6), Wells County (18.4).