How hard is the water in San Patricio County, TX?
10 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in San Patricio County, TX is 171 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 10 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 11 samples at 1 sites between 1990 and 1991, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 10 and 10 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 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 10.0 to 10.0 gpg
The softest single sample on record in San Patricio County was 171 mg/L and the hardest 171 mg/L, a 1-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 10 gpg and the bottom quarter below 10 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 218 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $39), 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 $139 a year.
Sizing at 10 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 600 | 24,000 | 73 lb |
| 2 | 1,200 | 24,000 | 146 lb |
| 4 | 2,400 | 24,000 | 292 lb |
| 6 | 3,600 | 32,000 | 438 lb |
San Patricio County against the rest of Texas
Among the 217 Texas counties with data, San Patricio County is number 137 of 217 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 51% of counties.
Softest in Texas: Nacogdoches County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Ward County at 218.5 gpg. Closest to San Patricio County: Lynn County (9.9), Oldham County (10.2), Hill County (10.3).