How hard is the water in Howard County, NE?
17.1 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Howard County, NE is 293 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 17.1 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 6 samples at 6 sites between 1990 and 2002, 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 16.3 and 18.6 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
At 17.1 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 13.3 to 19.4 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Howard County was 228 mg/L and the hardest 332 mg/L, a 1-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 18.6 gpg and the bottom quarter below 16.3 gpg.
Wells 17.1 gpg, rivers and lakes 6.7 gpg
6 groundwater samples from 6 wells put the median at 292.5 mg/L. 52 surface samples from 2 sites put it at 115.5 mg/L. In Howard County the wells come out 10.4 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. 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 373 lb of salt a year (10 bags of 40 lb, about $67), 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 $167 a year.
Sizing at 17.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,026 | 24,000 | 125 lb |
| 2 | 2,052 | 24,000 | 250 lb |
| 4 | 4,104 | 32,000 | 499 lb |
| 6 | 6,156 | 48,000 | 749 lb |
Howard County against the rest of Nebraska
Among the 89 Nebraska counties with data, Howard County is number 26 of 89 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 76% of counties.
Softest in Nebraska: Blaine County at 2.1 gpg. Hardest: Cedar County at 36.5 gpg. Closest to Howard County: Saunders County (16.9), Hall County (17.4), Kearney County (17.4).