How hard is the water in Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, AK?

1.6 grains per gallon

You do not need a softener here.

The median hardness measured in Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, AK is 27 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 1.6 gpg. That is soft on the USGS scale. It comes from 52 samples at 8 sites between 1992 and 2023, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.

How much it varies here

Half the sites came in between 0.9 and 1.9 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: medium (how it is measured).

What to do next

You can skip the softener. At 1.6 gpg the most a softener would fix is the odd water spot. If a salesperson in Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area says otherwise, ask to see their reading in grains per gallon and compare it with this one.

More on when a softener is not worth it.

From 0.2 to 2.3 gpg

The softest single sample on record in Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area was 4.2 mg/L and the hardest 38.8 mg/L, a 9-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 1.9 gpg and the bottom quarter below 0.9 gpg.

Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area against the rest of Alaska

Among the 22 Alaska counties with data, Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area is number 18 of 22 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 13% of counties.

Softest in Alaska: Petersburg Borough at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Southeast Fairbanks Census Area at 16.3 gpg. Closest to Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area: Skagway Municipality (1.8), Lake and Peninsula Borough (1.3), Ketchikan Gateway Borough (0.9).