How hard is the water in McLean County, ND?
17.7 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in McLean County, ND is 303 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 17.7 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 47 samples at 42 sites between 1990 and 2023, 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 6.9 and 23.1 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 17.7 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. Because McLean 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 0.4 to 43.2 gpg
The softest single sample on record in McLean County was 7.5 mg/L and the hardest 739 mg/L, a 99-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 23.1 gpg and the bottom quarter below 6.9 gpg. So even here some sites draw water soft enough to need nothing at all.
Wells 17.7 gpg, rivers and lakes 15 gpg
47 groundwater samples from 42 wells put the median at 303 mg/L. 1,279 surface samples from 39 sites put it at 257 mg/L. In McLean County the wells come out 2.7 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. The two sources are close, so the county figure should hold whichever one your tap is on.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 387 lb of salt a year (10 bags of 40 lb, about $70), 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 $170 a year.
Sizing at 17.7 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,062 | 24,000 | 129 lb |
| 2 | 2,124 | 24,000 | 258 lb |
| 4 | 4,248 | 32,000 | 517 lb |
| 6 | 6,372 | 48,000 | 775 lb |
McLean County against the rest of North Dakota
Among the 53 North Dakota counties with data, McLean County is number 33 of 53 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 78% of counties.
Softest in North Dakota: Hettinger County at 1.1 gpg. Hardest: Walsh County at 54 gpg. Closest to McLean County: Ransom County (17.4), Pembina County (18.2), Stark County (17.1).