How hard is the water in Pawnee County, NE?
15.4 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Pawnee County, NE is 263 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 15.4 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 1 samples at 1 sites between 2013 and 2013, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 15.4 and 15.4 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 15.4 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.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 336 lb of salt a year (9 bags of 40 lb, about $60), 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 $160 a year.
Sizing at 15.4 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 924 | 24,000 | 112 lb |
| 2 | 1,848 | 24,000 | 225 lb |
| 4 | 3,696 | 32,000 | 450 lb |
| 6 | 5,544 | 40,000 | 675 lb |
Pawnee County against the rest of Nebraska
Among the 89 Nebraska counties with data, Pawnee County is number 41 of 89 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 71% of counties.
Softest in Nebraska: Blaine County at 2.1 gpg. Hardest: Cedar County at 36.5 gpg. Closest to Pawnee County: Douglas County (15.3), Otoe County (15.2), Sarpy County (15.2).