How hard is the water in Storey County, NV?
8 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Storey County, NV is 137 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 8 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 9 samples at 6 sites between 1992 and 2020, 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 5.1 and 9.9 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
At 8 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 Storey 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 4.3 to 38.3 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Storey County was 73.9 mg/L and the hardest 655.5 mg/L, a 9-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 9.9 gpg and the bottom quarter below 5.1 gpg.
Wells 8 gpg, rivers and lakes 7.9 gpg
9 groundwater samples from 6 wells put the median at 136.5 mg/L. 110 surface samples from 8 sites put it at 135.5 mg/L. In Storey County the wells come out 0.1 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 174 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $31), 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 $131 a year.
Sizing at 8 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 480 | 24,000 | 58 lb |
| 2 | 960 | 24,000 | 117 lb |
| 4 | 1,920 | 24,000 | 234 lb |
| 6 | 2,880 | 24,000 | 350 lb |
Storey County against the rest of Nevada
Among the 17 Nevada counties with data, Storey County is number 11 of 17 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 43% of counties.
Softest in Nevada: Churchill County at 3.2 gpg. Hardest: Clark County at 20.2 gpg. Closest to Storey County: White Pine County (8), Lander County (7), Humboldt County (6.8).