How hard is the water in Union County, MS?
7.7 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Union County, MS is 131 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 7.7 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 1 samples at 1 sites between 2013 and 2013, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 7.7 and 7.7 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: low (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 7.7 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.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 167 lb of salt a year (5 bags of 40 lb, about $30), 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 $130 a year.
Sizing at 7.7 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 462 | 24,000 | 56 lb |
| 2 | 924 | 24,000 | 112 lb |
| 4 | 1,848 | 24,000 | 225 lb |
| 6 | 2,772 | 24,000 | 337 lb |
Union County against the rest of Mississippi
Among the 78 Mississippi counties with data, Union County is number 10 of 78 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 41% of counties.
Softest in Mississippi: Issaquena County at 0.1 gpg. Hardest: Franklin County at 60.5 gpg. Closest to Union County: Jefferson County (7.8), Wilkinson County (7.2), Warren County (7).