How hard is the water in Mason County, WV?
7.1 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Mason County, WV is 122 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 7.1 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 169 samples at 3 sites between 1998 and 2024, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 6.4 and 12.9 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 7.1 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 Mason 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 5.7 to 18.6 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Mason County was 98 mg/L and the hardest 319 mg/L, a 3-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 12.9 gpg and the bottom quarter below 6.4 gpg.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 156 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 7.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 426 | 24,000 | 52 lb |
| 2 | 852 | 24,000 | 104 lb |
| 4 | 1,704 | 24,000 | 207 lb |
| 6 | 2,556 | 24,000 | 311 lb |
Mason County against the rest of West Virginia
Among the 54 West Virginia counties with data, Mason County is number 22 of 54 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 39% of counties.
Softest in West Virginia: Calhoun County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Jefferson County at 20.4 gpg. Closest to Mason County: Ohio County (7), Lincoln County (7.2), Mingo County (7.3).