How hard is the water in Salem city, VA?
8.6 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Salem city, VA is 147 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 8.6 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 2 samples at 1 sites between 2001 and 2001, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 8.6 and 8.6 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 8.6 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.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 187 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $34), 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 $134 a year.
Sizing at 8.6 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 516 | 24,000 | 63 lb |
| 2 | 1,032 | 24,000 | 126 lb |
| 4 | 2,064 | 24,000 | 251 lb |
| 6 | 3,096 | 24,000 | 377 lb |
Salem city against the rest of Virginia
Among the 126 Virginia counties with data, Salem city is number 23 of 126 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 45% of counties.
Softest in Virginia: Isle of Wight County at 0.4 gpg. Hardest: Clarke County at 20.1 gpg. Closest to Salem city: Wythe County (8.5), Dickenson County (8.4), Page County (8.4).