How hard is the water in Lincoln County, ME?

0.7 grains per gallon

You do not need a softener here.

The median hardness measured in Lincoln County, ME is 12 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 0.7 gpg. That is soft on the USGS scale. It comes from 1 samples at 1 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 0.7 and 0.7 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: low (how it is measured).

What to do next

You can skip the softener. At 0.7 gpg the most a softener would fix is the odd water spot. If a salesperson in Lincoln County says otherwise, ask to see their reading in grains per gallon and compare it with this one.

More on when a softener is not worth it.

Lincoln County against the rest of Maine

Among the 16 Maine counties with data, Lincoln County is the softest. Across the whole country it is harder than 4% of counties.

Hardest: Penobscot County at 6.9 gpg. Closest to Lincoln County: Sagadahoc County (0.8), Washington County (1.2), Piscataquis County (1.8).