How hard is the water in Seminole County, FL?
9 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Seminole County, FL is 154 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 9 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 42 samples at 13 sites between 1990 and 2017, drawn from groundwater wells, which is what most taps and private wells in the county draw on.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 8.1 and 10.1 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: high (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 6.6 to 38.0 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Seminole County was 112.5 mg/L and the hardest 650 mg/L, a 6-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 10.1 gpg and the bottom quarter below 8.1 gpg.
Wells 9 gpg, rivers and lakes 5.4 gpg
42 groundwater samples from 13 wells put the median at 154 mg/L. 3,673 surface samples from 186 sites put it at 92.5 mg/L. In Seminole County the wells come out 3.6 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. A utility here that draws from the river can deliver noticeably different water from a private well next door.
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 |
Seminole County against the rest of Florida
Among the 67 Florida counties with data, Seminole County is number 38 of 67 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 47% of counties.
Softest in Florida: Washington County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Sarasota County at 32.2 gpg. Closest to Seminole County: Wakulla County (9), Lake County (9.1), Marion County (8.8).