How hard is the water in Missaukee County, MI?

3 grains per gallon

You do not need a softener here.

The median hardness measured in Missaukee County, MI is 51 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 3 gpg. That is soft on the USGS scale. It comes from 5 samples at 5 sites between 2001 and 2006, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.

How much it varies here

Half the sites came in between 2.8 and 4.2 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

You can skip the softener. At 3 gpg the most a softener would fix is the odd water spot. If a salesperson in Missaukee County says otherwise, ask to see their reading in grains per gallon and compare it with this one. Because Missaukee County straddles a decision line, check your own tap with a $10 test strip before you spend anything.

More on when a softener is not worth it.

From 1.5 to 5.0 gpg

The softest single sample on record in Missaukee County was 26 mg/L and the hardest 85 mg/L, a 3-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 4.2 gpg and the bottom quarter below 2.8 gpg.

Missaukee County against the rest of Michigan

Among the 82 Michigan counties with data, Missaukee County is number 79 of 82 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 21% of counties.

Softest in Michigan: Luce County at 1.9 gpg. Hardest: Wayne County at 47.4 gpg. Closest to Missaukee County: Houghton County (3.1), Chippewa County (3.1), Iron County (3.3).