How hard is the water in Liberty County, MT?
67.8 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Liberty County, MT is 1160 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 67.8 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 10 samples at 9 sites between 1990 and 2013, 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 16.5 and 123.3 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 67.8 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 6.8 to 203.3 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Liberty County was 116 mg/L and the hardest 3,480 mg/L, a 30-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 123.3 gpg and the bottom quarter below 16.5 gpg.
Wells 67.8 gpg, rivers and lakes 19.5 gpg
10 groundwater samples from 9 wells put the median at 1160 mg/L. 22 surface samples from 22 sites put it at 334.5 mg/L. In Liberty County the wells come out 48.3 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, the water is harder than a standard single tank handles in a week, so plan on a larger or twin-tank unit. Expect about 1,480 lb of salt a year (37 bags of 40 lb, about $266), 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 $366 a year.
Sizing at 67.8 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4,068 | 32,000 | 495 lb |
| 2 | 8,136 | 64,000 | 990 lb |
| 4 | 16,272 | twin tank | 1,980 lb |
| 6 | 24,408 | twin tank | 2,970 lb |
Liberty County against the rest of Montana
Among the 56 Montana counties with data, Liberty County is number 3 of 56 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 99% of counties.
Softest in Montana: Lincoln County at 3.4 gpg. Hardest: Rosebud County at 138.9 gpg. Closest to Liberty County: Powder River County (60.8), Cascade County (58.6), Petroleum County (50.9).