How hard is the water in Muhlenberg County, KY?
6.1 grains per gallon
Optional: a softener helps, but plenty of homes skip it.
The median hardness measured in Muhlenberg County, KY is 104 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 6.1 gpg. That is moderately hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 44 samples at 7 sites between 1992 and 2007, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 2.2 and 7.1 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: medium (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 6.1 gpg this is your call. Look for white film on glasses and crust on the shower head: if you see little of either, you can live without one. If you do want one, a 24,000-grain unit is enough, so ask for that size rather than a bigger one. Because Muhlenberg 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 1.8 to 52.2 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Muhlenberg County was 30.8 mg/L and the hardest 893 mg/L, a 29-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 7.1 gpg and the bottom quarter below 2.2 gpg.
Wells 6.1 gpg, rivers and lakes 5.2 gpg
3 groundwater samples from 3 wells put the median at 104 mg/L. 41 surface samples from 4 sites put it at 88.5 mg/L. In Muhlenberg County the wells come out 0.9 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 133 lb of salt a year (4 bags of 40 lb, about $24), 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 $124 a year.
Sizing at 6.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 366 | 24,000 | 45 lb |
| 2 | 732 | 24,000 | 89 lb |
| 4 | 1,464 | 24,000 | 178 lb |
| 6 | 2,196 | 24,000 | 267 lb |
Muhlenberg County against the rest of Kentucky
Among the 104 Kentucky counties with data, Muhlenberg County is number 67 of 104 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 35% of counties.
Softest in Kentucky: Letcher County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Jefferson County at 32.9 gpg. Closest to Muhlenberg County: Clay County (6), Knox County (6), Elliott County (6).