How hard is the water in Pend Oreille County, WA?
7.6 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Pend Oreille County, WA is 130 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 7.6 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 4 samples at 3 sites between 1990 and 1999, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 5.7 and 8.2 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: low (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 7.6 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 Pend Oreille 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.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 166 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $30), 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 $130 a year.
Sizing at 7.6 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 456 | 24,000 | 55 lb |
| 2 | 912 | 24,000 | 111 lb |
| 4 | 1,824 | 24,000 | 222 lb |
| 6 | 2,736 | 24,000 | 333 lb |
Pend Oreille County against the rest of Washington
Among the 38 Washington counties with data, Pend Oreille County is number 9 of 38 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 41% of counties.
Softest in Washington: Chelan County at 0.6 gpg. Hardest: Island County at 20.7 gpg. Closest to Pend Oreille County: Ferry County (7.8), Asotin County (7.3), Okanogan County (7.3).