How hard is the water in Kimball County, NE?
9.8 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Kimball County, NE is 168 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.8 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 3 samples at 3 sites between 2002 and 2002, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 9.1 and 10.7 gpg. That spread crosses a decision line, so some homes here land on a different answer. A $10 test strip on your own tap settles it. Confidence in the county figure: low (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 9.8 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. Because Kimball County straddles a decision line, check your own tap with a $10 test strip before you spend anything.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 214 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $39), 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 $139 a year.
Sizing at 9.8 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 588 | 24,000 | 72 lb |
| 2 | 1,176 | 24,000 | 143 lb |
| 4 | 2,352 | 24,000 | 286 lb |
| 6 | 3,528 | 32,000 | 429 lb |
Kimball County against the rest of Nebraska
Among the 89 Nebraska counties with data, Kimball County is number 67 of 89 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 50% of counties.
Softest in Nebraska: Blaine County at 2.1 gpg. Hardest: Cedar County at 36.5 gpg. Closest to Kimball County: Lincoln County (9.6), Hayes County (10.4), Thayer County (9.2).