How hard is the water in Skagit County, WA?
8.1 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Skagit County, WA is 138 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 8.1 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 39 samples at 39 sites between 1990 and 2015, 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 5.8 and 9.4 gpg. That spread crosses a decision line, so some homes here land on a different answer. A $10 test strip on your own tap settles it. Confidence in the county figure: high (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 8.1 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. Because Skagit County straddles a decision line, check your own tap with a $10 test strip before you spend anything.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
From 0.2 to 25.9 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Skagit County was 2.6 mg/L and the hardest 443 mg/L, a 170-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 9.4 gpg and the bottom quarter below 5.8 gpg. So even here some sites draw water soft enough to need nothing at all.
Wells 8.1 gpg, rivers and lakes 1.3 gpg
39 groundwater samples from 39 wells put the median at 138 mg/L. 212 surface samples from 19 sites put it at 21.6 mg/L. In Skagit County the wells come out 6.8 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 176 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $32), 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 $132 a year.
Sizing at 8.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 486 | 24,000 | 59 lb |
| 2 | 972 | 24,000 | 118 lb |
| 4 | 1,944 | 24,000 | 237 lb |
| 6 | 2,916 | 24,000 | 355 lb |
Skagit County against the rest of Washington
Among the 38 Washington counties with data, Skagit County is number 7 of 38 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 43% of counties.
Softest in Washington: Chelan County at 0.6 gpg. Hardest: Island County at 20.7 gpg. Closest to Skagit County: Ferry County (7.8), Pend Oreille County (7.6), Asotin County (7.3).