How hard is the water in Ringgold County, IA?
10.1 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Ringgold County, IA is 173 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 10.1 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 2 samples at 2 sites between 1991 and 1993, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 9.7 and 10.5 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: low (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 10.1 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.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
Wells 9.3 gpg, rivers and lakes 10.9 gpg
1 groundwater samples from 1 wells put the median at 160 mg/L. 1 surface samples from 1 sites put it at 186 mg/L. In Ringgold County the rivers and lakes come out 1.6 gpg harder. Here the surface water reads harder than the wells, which often points to streams fed by limestone springs or irrigation return flow. 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 221 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $40), 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 $140 a year.
Sizing at 10.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 606 | 24,000 | 74 lb |
| 2 | 1,212 | 24,000 | 147 lb |
| 4 | 2,424 | 24,000 | 295 lb |
| 6 | 3,636 | 32,000 | 442 lb |
Ringgold County against the rest of Iowa
Among the 93 Iowa counties with data, Ringgold County is number 92 of 93 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 52% of counties.
Softest in Iowa: Taylor County at 8.2 gpg. Hardest: Pocahontas County at 45.3 gpg. Closest to Ringgold County: Cass County (11.1), Taylor County (8.2), Decatur County (12.8).