How hard is the water in McDowell County, WV?
9.7 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in McDowell County, WV is 166 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.7 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 8 samples at 8 sites between 2002 and 2016, 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 5.9 and 11.8 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 9.7 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 McDowell 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 3.6 to 18.8 gpg
The softest single sample on record in McDowell County was 61.1 mg/L and the hardest 321 mg/L, a 5-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 11.8 gpg and the bottom quarter below 5.9 gpg.
Wells 9.7 gpg, rivers and lakes 3.6 gpg
8 groundwater samples from 8 wells put the median at 166 mg/L. 1 surface samples from 1 sites put it at 62 mg/L. In McDowell County the wells come out 6.1 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 212 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $38), 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 $138 a year.
Sizing at 9.7 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 582 | 24,000 | 71 lb |
| 2 | 1,164 | 24,000 | 142 lb |
| 4 | 2,328 | 24,000 | 283 lb |
| 6 | 3,492 | 32,000 | 425 lb |
McDowell County against the rest of West Virginia
Among the 54 West Virginia counties with data, McDowell County is number 9 of 54 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 50% of counties.
Softest in West Virginia: Calhoun County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Jefferson County at 20.4 gpg. Closest to McDowell County: Doddridge County (9.6), Greenbrier County (9.5), Braxton County (9.9).