How hard is the water in Madison County, FL?
9.8 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Madison County, FL is 168 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.8 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 47 samples at 15 sites between 1990 and 2017, 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 8.4 and 11.6 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: high (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 9.8 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 Madison 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 6.5 to 12.8 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Madison County was 112 mg/L and the hardest 218.3 mg/L, a 2-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 11.6 gpg and the bottom quarter below 8.4 gpg.
Wells 9.8 gpg, rivers and lakes 0.5 gpg
47 groundwater samples from 15 wells put the median at 168 mg/L. 105 surface samples from 39 sites put it at 9.3 mg/L. In Madison County the wells come out 9.3 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, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 214 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $39), 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 $139 a year.
Sizing at 9.8 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 588 | 24,000 | 72 lb |
| 2 | 1,176 | 24,000 | 143 lb |
| 4 | 2,352 | 24,000 | 286 lb |
| 6 | 3,528 | 32,000 | 429 lb |
Madison County against the rest of Florida
Among the 67 Florida counties with data, Madison County is number 33 of 67 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 50% of counties.
Softest in Florida: Washington County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Sarasota County at 32.2 gpg. Closest to Madison County: Columbia County (10), Jefferson County (9.6), Pasco County (9.3).