How hard is the water in New Madrid County, MO?
11 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in New Madrid County, MO is 189 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 11 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 5 samples at 5 sites between 1998 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 10.6 and 11.5 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: medium (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 11 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 9.2 to 11.7 gpg
The softest single sample on record in New Madrid County was 157 mg/L and the hardest 200 mg/L, a 1-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 11.5 gpg and the bottom quarter below 10.6 gpg.
Wells 11 gpg, rivers and lakes 8.5 gpg
5 groundwater samples from 5 wells put the median at 189 mg/L. 147 surface samples from 10 sites put it at 146 mg/L. In New Madrid County the wells come out 2.5 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 241 lb of salt a year (7 bags of 40 lb, about $43), 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 $143 a year.
Sizing at 11 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 660 | 24,000 | 80 lb |
| 2 | 1,320 | 24,000 | 161 lb |
| 4 | 2,640 | 24,000 | 321 lb |
| 6 | 3,960 | 32,000 | 482 lb |
New Madrid County against the rest of Missouri
Among the 110 Missouri counties with data, New Madrid County is number 71 of 110 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 55% of counties.
Softest in Missouri: Livingston County at 4.1 gpg. Hardest: Reynolds County at 96.7 gpg. Closest to New Madrid County: Atchison County (11), Cooper County (11), Phelps County (11).