How hard is the water in Lincoln County, WV?
7.2 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Lincoln County, WV is 124 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 7.2 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 41 samples at 5 sites between 1990 and 2011, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 2.8 and 38.6 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: medium (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 7.2 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 Lincoln 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.
From 2.3 to 49.8 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Lincoln County was 39 mg/L and the hardest 853 mg/L, a 22-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 38.6 gpg and the bottom quarter below 2.8 gpg. So even here some sites draw water soft enough to need nothing at all.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 158 lb of salt a year (4 bags of 40 lb, about $28), 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 $128 a year.
Sizing at 7.2 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 432 | 24,000 | 53 lb |
| 2 | 864 | 24,000 | 105 lb |
| 4 | 1,728 | 24,000 | 210 lb |
| 6 | 2,592 | 24,000 | 315 lb |
Lincoln County against the rest of West Virginia
Among the 54 West Virginia counties with data, Lincoln County is number 21 of 54 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 40% of counties.
Softest in West Virginia: Calhoun County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Jefferson County at 20.4 gpg. Closest to Lincoln County: Mingo County (7.3), Pendleton County (7.3), Mason County (7.1).