How hard is the water in Horry County, SC?

2.3 grains per gallon

You do not need a softener here.

The median hardness measured in Horry County, SC is 40 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 2.3 gpg. That is soft on the USGS scale. It comes from 15 samples at 7 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 0.9 and 2.5 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: medium (how it is measured).

What to do next

You can skip the softener. At 2.3 gpg the most a softener would fix is the odd water spot. If a salesperson in Horry 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.

From 0.4 to 4.5 gpg

The softest single sample on record in Horry County was 7 mg/L and the hardest 77 mg/L, an 11-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 2.5 gpg and the bottom quarter below 0.9 gpg.

Wells 2.3 gpg, rivers and lakes 1.5 gpg

15 groundwater samples from 7 wells put the median at 39.5 mg/L. 586 surface samples from 58 sites put it at 26.5 mg/L. In Horry County the wells come out 0.8 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.

Horry County against the rest of South Carolina

Among the 46 South Carolina counties with data, Horry County is number 10 of 46 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 18% of counties.

Softest in South Carolina: Aiken County at 0.2 gpg. Hardest: Georgetown County at 15.2 gpg. Closest to Horry County: Allendale County (2.3), Newberry County (2.2), Spartanburg County (2.1).