How hard is the water in Treasure County, MT?
18.7 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Treasure County, MT is 319 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 18.7 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 45 samples at 10 sites between 1990 and 2018, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 12.9 and 25.3 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 18.7 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 8.3 to 48.8 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Treasure County was 142 mg/L and the hardest 836 mg/L, a 6-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 25.3 gpg and the bottom quarter below 12.9 gpg.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 407 lb of salt a year (11 bags of 40 lb, about $73), 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 $173 a year.
Sizing at 18.7 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,122 | 24,000 | 137 lb |
| 2 | 2,244 | 24,000 | 273 lb |
| 4 | 4,488 | 32,000 | 546 lb |
| 6 | 6,732 | 48,000 | 819 lb |
Treasure County against the rest of Montana
Among the 56 Montana counties with data, Treasure County is number 24 of 56 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 81% of counties.
Softest in Montana: Lincoln County at 3.4 gpg. Hardest: Rosebud County at 138.9 gpg. Closest to Treasure County: Wheatland County (18), Blaine County (17), Custer County (16.8).