How hard is the water in Medina County, TX?
14 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Medina County, TX is 239 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 14 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 191 samples at 66 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 13.7 and 15.2 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: high (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 14 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 12.8 to 132.3 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Medina County was 219 mg/L and the hardest 2,265 mg/L, a 10-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 15.2 gpg and the bottom quarter below 13.7 gpg.
Wells 14 gpg, rivers and lakes 12.3 gpg
191 groundwater samples from 66 wells put the median at 239 mg/L. 131 surface samples from 13 sites put it at 210 mg/L. In Medina County the wells come out 1.7 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 305 lb of salt a year (8 bags of 40 lb, about $55), 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 $155 a year.
Sizing at 14 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 840 | 24,000 | 102 lb |
| 2 | 1,680 | 24,000 | 204 lb |
| 4 | 3,360 | 24,000 | 409 lb |
| 6 | 5,040 | 40,000 | 613 lb |
Medina County against the rest of Texas
Among the 217 Texas counties with data, Medina County is number 99 of 217 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 66% of counties.
Softest in Texas: Nacogdoches County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Ward County at 218.5 gpg. Closest to Medina County: Wharton County (13.8), Schleicher County (14.1), Hansford County (13.7).