How hard is the water in Lexington city, VA?
10.1 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Lexington city, VA is 172 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 10.1 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 32 samples at 2 sites between 2002 and 2017, 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 and 11.1 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 10.1 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 Lexington city 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.
From 8.0 to 12.1 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Lexington city was 137.5 mg/L and the hardest 207 mg/L, a 2-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 11.1 gpg and the bottom quarter below 9 gpg.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 220 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $40), 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 $140 a year.
Sizing at 10.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 606 | 24,000 | 74 lb |
| 2 | 1,212 | 24,000 | 147 lb |
| 4 | 2,424 | 24,000 | 295 lb |
| 6 | 3,636 | 32,000 | 442 lb |
Lexington city against the rest of Virginia
Among the 126 Virginia counties with data, Lexington city is number 18 of 126 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 51% of counties.
Softest in Virginia: Isle of Wight County at 0.4 gpg. Hardest: Clarke County at 20.1 gpg. Closest to Lexington city: York County (10.2), Fauquier County (9.8), Virginia Beach city (10.3).