How hard is the water in Jefferson County, IN?
9.5 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Jefferson County, IN is 163 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.5 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 64 samples at 12 sites between 1992 and 2019, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 8.1 and 10.2 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 9.5 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 6.0 to 20.6 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Jefferson County was 102 mg/L and the hardest 353 mg/L, a 3-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 10.2 gpg and the bottom quarter below 8.1 gpg.
Wells 20.6 gpg, rivers and lakes 9.5 gpg
1 groundwater samples from 1 wells put the median at 353 mg/L. 63 surface samples from 11 sites put it at 162.5 mg/L. In Jefferson County the wells come out 11.1 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. 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 208 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 9.5 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 570 | 24,000 | 69 lb |
| 2 | 1,140 | 24,000 | 139 lb |
| 4 | 2,280 | 24,000 | 277 lb |
| 6 | 3,420 | 24,000 | 416 lb |
Jefferson County against the rest of Indiana
Among the 91 Indiana counties with data, Jefferson County is number 85 of 91 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 49% of counties.
Softest in Indiana: Brown County at 3.8 gpg. Hardest: Warrick County at 40.3 gpg. Closest to Jefferson County: Scott County (9.6), Monroe County (9.7), Newton County (9.8).