How hard is the water in Richland County, IL?
9 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Richland County, IL is 153 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 79 samples at 4 sites between 1999 and 2002, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 7.8 and 9.8 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
At 9 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.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
From 6.3 to 10.4 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Richland County was 107 mg/L and the hardest 178 mg/L, a 2-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 9.8 gpg and the bottom quarter below 7.8 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 196 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $35), 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 $135 a year.
Sizing at 9 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 540 | 24,000 | 66 lb |
| 2 | 1,080 | 24,000 | 131 lb |
| 4 | 2,160 | 24,000 | 263 lb |
| 6 | 3,240 | 24,000 | 394 lb |
Richland County against the rest of Illinois
Among the 102 Illinois counties with data, Richland County is number 97 of 102 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 46% of counties.
Softest in Illinois: Pope County at 4.3 gpg. Hardest: Cook County at 34.8 gpg. Closest to Richland County: Bond County (8.6), Franklin County (9.4), Marion County (9.9).