How hard is the water in Sioux County, NE?
14.3 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Sioux County, NE is 246 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 14.3 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 687 samples at 67 sites between 1991 and 2002, 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 12.9 and 16.8 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: high (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 14.3 gpg a softener pays its way here. Before you buy, check the quoted unit's grain capacity against the sizing table below, and ask whether it regenerates on demand, which uses less salt than a timer. Call your utility for its own report if you are on city water.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
From 5.6 to 27.8 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Sioux County was 95.7 mg/L and the hardest 476.5 mg/L, a 5-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 16.8 gpg and the bottom quarter below 12.9 gpg.
Wells 14.3 gpg, rivers and lakes 14 gpg
687 groundwater samples from 67 wells put the median at 245.5 mg/L. 26 surface samples from 3 sites put it at 239 mg/L. In Sioux County the wells come out 0.3 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. 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 313 lb of salt a year (8 bags of 40 lb, about $56), 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 $156 a year.
Sizing at 14.3 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 858 | 24,000 | 104 lb |
| 2 | 1,716 | 24,000 | 209 lb |
| 4 | 3,432 | 32,000 | 418 lb |
| 6 | 5,148 | 40,000 | 626 lb |
Sioux County against the rest of Nebraska
Among the 89 Nebraska counties with data, Sioux County is number 48 of 89 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 67% of counties.
Softest in Nebraska: Blaine County at 2.1 gpg. Hardest: Cedar County at 36.5 gpg. Closest to Sioux County: Madison County (14.3), Knox County (14.3), Sherman County (14.2).