How hard is the water in Piute County, UT?
9.1 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Piute County, UT is 155 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9.1 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 952 samples at 51 sites between 1990 and 2021, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 4.3 and 11.8 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: high (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 9.1 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 Piute 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 0.7 to 15.6 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Piute County was 11.6 mg/L and the hardest 267.8 mg/L, a 23-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 11.8 gpg and the bottom quarter below 4.3 gpg. So even here some sites draw water soft enough to need nothing at all.
Wells 10.5 gpg, rivers and lakes 8.3 gpg
23 groundwater samples from 3 wells put the median at 179 mg/L. 929 surface samples from 48 sites put it at 142.1 mg/L. In Piute County the wells come out 2.2 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 198 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $36), 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 $136 a year.
Sizing at 9.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 546 | 24,000 | 66 lb |
| 2 | 1,092 | 24,000 | 133 lb |
| 4 | 2,184 | 24,000 | 266 lb |
| 6 | 3,276 | 24,000 | 399 lb |
Piute County against the rest of Utah
Among the 29 Utah counties with data, Piute County is number 28 of 29 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 47% of counties.
Softest in Utah: Davis County at 9 gpg. Hardest: Emery County at 151.3 gpg. Closest to Piute County: Davis County (9), Garfield County (9.5), Duchesne County (10.3).