How hard is the water in Oldham County, TX?
10.2 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Oldham County, TX is 174 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 10.2 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 1 samples at 1 sites between 2001 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 10.2 and 10.2 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: low (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 10.2 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.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 222 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $40), 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 $140 a year.
Sizing at 10.2 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 612 | 24,000 | 74 lb |
| 2 | 1,224 | 24,000 | 149 lb |
| 4 | 2,448 | 24,000 | 298 lb |
| 6 | 3,672 | 32,000 | 447 lb |
Oldham County against the rest of Texas
Among the 217 Texas counties with data, Oldham County is number 136 of 217 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 52% of counties.
Softest in Texas: Nacogdoches County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Ward County at 218.5 gpg. Closest to Oldham County: San Patricio County (10), Hill County (10.3), Lynn County (9.9).