How hard is the water in Monroe County, IN?
9.7 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Monroe County, IN is 166 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.7 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 36 samples at 12 sites between 1992 and 2001, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 5.6 and 13.6 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 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 Monroe 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 3.1 to 19.3 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Monroe County was 53.5 mg/L and the hardest 330 mg/L, a 6-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 13.6 gpg and the bottom quarter below 5.6 gpg. So even here some sites draw water soft enough to need nothing at all.
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 |
Monroe County against the rest of Indiana
Among the 91 Indiana counties with data, Monroe County is number 83 of 91 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 50% of counties.
Softest in Indiana: Brown County at 3.8 gpg. Hardest: Warrick County at 40.3 gpg. Closest to Monroe County: Scott County (9.6), Jefferson County (9.5), Newton County (9.8).