How hard is the water in Pendleton County, KY?

9.3 grains per gallon

A softener is worth it here.

The median hardness measured in Pendleton County, KY is 160 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.3 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 166 samples at 4 sites between 1990 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 7.4 and 11.3 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 9.3 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 Pendleton 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.

From 7.2 to 11.3 gpg

The softest single sample on record in Pendleton County was 123 mg/L and the hardest 194 mg/L, a 2-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 11.3 gpg and the bottom quarter below 7.4 gpg.

What a softener would cost to run

For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 204 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $37), 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 $137 a year.

Sizing at 9.3 gpg

Pendleton County against the rest of Kentucky

Among the 104 Kentucky counties with data, Pendleton County is number 45 of 104 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 48% of counties.

Softest in Kentucky: Letcher County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Jefferson County at 32.9 gpg. Closest to Pendleton County: Leslie County (9.3), Bracken County (9.4), Gallatin County (9.4).