How hard is the water in Meigs County, TN?
9.1 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Meigs County, TN is 155 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.1 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 178 samples at 27 sites between 1997 and 2018, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 7.4 and 10.1 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 9.1 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.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
From 0.6 to 21.1 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Meigs County was 11 mg/L and the hardest 361 mg/L, a 33-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 10.1 gpg and the bottom quarter below 7.4 gpg. So even here some sites draw water soft enough to need nothing at all.
Wells 9.1 gpg, rivers and lakes 8.9 gpg
3 groundwater samples from 3 wells put the median at 156 mg/L. 175 surface samples from 24 sites put it at 152.5 mg/L. In Meigs County the wells come out 0.2 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 198 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $36), 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 $136 a year.
Sizing at 9.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 546 | 24,000 | 66 lb |
| 2 | 1,092 | 24,000 | 133 lb |
| 4 | 2,184 | 24,000 | 266 lb |
| 6 | 3,276 | 24,000 | 399 lb |
Meigs County against the rest of Tennessee
Among the 95 Tennessee counties with data, Meigs County is number 26 of 95 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 47% of counties.
Softest in Tennessee: Fayette County at 0.5 gpg. Hardest: Fentress County at 42.9 gpg. Closest to Meigs County: Houston County (9.1), Loudon County (8.9), Warren County (8.9).