How hard is the water in Jefferson County, FL?
9.6 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Jefferson County, FL is 164 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.6 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 7 samples at 7 sites between 1999 and 2017, 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 9.4 and 9.8 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 9.6 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.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
From 9.1 to 17.0 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Jefferson County was 156.2 mg/L and the hardest 291 mg/L, a 2-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 9.8 gpg and the bottom quarter below 9.4 gpg.
Wells 9.6 gpg, rivers and lakes 8.5 gpg
7 groundwater samples from 7 wells put the median at 164.2 mg/L. 47 surface samples from 17 sites put it at 146 mg/L. In Jefferson County the wells come out 1.1 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 209 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $38), 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 $138 a year.
Sizing at 9.6 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 576 | 24,000 | 70 lb |
| 2 | 1,152 | 24,000 | 140 lb |
| 4 | 2,304 | 24,000 | 280 lb |
| 6 | 3,456 | 32,000 | 420 lb |
Jefferson County against the rest of Florida
Among the 67 Florida counties with data, Jefferson County is number 34 of 67 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 49% of counties.
Softest in Florida: Washington County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Sarasota County at 32.2 gpg. Closest to Jefferson County: Madison County (9.8), Pasco County (9.3), Columbia County (10).