How hard is the water in Skamania County, WA?

3.3 grains per gallon

You do not need a softener here.

The median hardness measured in Skamania County, WA is 56 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 3.3 gpg. That is soft on the USGS scale. It comes from 12 samples at 9 sites between 1991 and 2009, 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 3.2 and 3.7 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: medium (how it is measured).

What to do next

You can skip the softener. At 3.3 gpg the most a softener would fix is the odd water spot. If a salesperson in Skamania County says otherwise, ask to see their reading in grains per gallon and compare it with this one. Because Skamania County straddles a decision line, check your own tap with a $10 test strip before you spend anything.

More on when a softener is not worth it.

From 0.8 to 5.0 gpg

The softest single sample on record in Skamania County was 13.5 mg/L and the hardest 86.2 mg/L, a 6-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 3.7 gpg and the bottom quarter below 3.2 gpg.

Wells 3.3 gpg, rivers and lakes 3.6 gpg

12 groundwater samples from 9 wells put the median at 56 mg/L. 20 surface samples from 7 sites put it at 61.4 mg/L. In Skamania County the rivers and lakes come out 0.3 gpg harder. Here the surface water reads harder than the wells, which often points to streams fed by limestone springs or irrigation return flow. The two sources are close, so the county figure should hold whichever one your tap is on.

Skamania County against the rest of Washington

Among the 38 Washington counties with data, Skamania County is number 25 of 38 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 23% of counties.

Softest in Washington: Chelan County at 0.6 gpg. Hardest: Island County at 20.7 gpg. Closest to Skamania County: Benton County (3.3), Thurston County (3.3), Pierce County (3.2).