How hard is the water in Howard County, AR?

1.6 grains per gallon

You do not need a softener here.

The median hardness measured in Howard County, AR is 28 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 1.6 gpg. That is soft on the USGS scale. It comes from 20 samples at 14 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 0.2 and 3.4 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 1.6 gpg the most a softener would fix is the odd water spot. If a salesperson in Howard 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 0.1 to 10.1 gpg

The softest single sample on record in Howard County was 1 mg/L and the hardest 172.5 mg/L, a 173-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 3.4 gpg and the bottom quarter below 0.2 gpg.

Wells 1.6 gpg, rivers and lakes 1 gpg

20 groundwater samples from 14 wells put the median at 27.5 mg/L. 1,816 surface samples from 38 sites put it at 17.4 mg/L. In Howard County the wells come out 0.6 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.

Howard County against the rest of Arkansas

Among the 75 Arkansas counties with data, Howard County is number 47 of 75 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 13% of counties.

Softest in Arkansas: Hempstead County at 0.1 gpg. Hardest: Prairie County at 23.9 gpg. Closest to Howard County: Jefferson County (1.6), Mississippi County (1.6), Lafayette County (1.5).