How hard is the water in Lyon County, IA?
31.2 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Lyon County, IA is 534 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 31.2 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 26 samples at 11 sites between 1990 and 2022, 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 23.3 and 37.2 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 31.2 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 18.9 to 81.8 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Lyon County was 324 mg/L and the hardest 1,400 mg/L, a 4-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 37.2 gpg and the bottom quarter below 23.3 gpg.
Wells 31.2 gpg, rivers and lakes 26.3 gpg
26 groundwater samples from 11 wells put the median at 533.5 mg/L. 136 surface samples from 3 sites put it at 451 mg/L. In Lyon County the wells come out 4.9 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, a 40,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 681 lb of salt a year (18 bags of 40 lb, about $123), 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 $223 a year.
Sizing at 31.2 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,872 | 24,000 | 228 lb |
| 2 | 3,744 | 32,000 | 456 lb |
| 4 | 7,488 | 64,000 | 911 lb |
| 6 | 11,232 | 80,000 | 1,367 lb |
Lyon County against the rest of Iowa
Among the 93 Iowa counties with data, Lyon County is number 8 of 93 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 95% of counties.
Softest in Iowa: Taylor County at 8.2 gpg. Hardest: Pocahontas County at 45.3 gpg. Closest to Lyon County: Sioux County (31), Plymouth County (31.5), Emmet County (31.8).