How hard is the water in Union County, NJ?
13.7 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Union County, NJ is 235 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 13.7 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 29 samples at 7 sites between 1990 and 2023, 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 11.2 and 16.7 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: medium (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 13.7 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 9.1 to 19.2 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Union County was 156 mg/L and the hardest 328.5 mg/L, a 2-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 16.7 gpg and the bottom quarter below 11.2 gpg.
Wells 13.7 gpg, rivers and lakes 10.7 gpg
29 groundwater samples from 7 wells put the median at 234.5 mg/L. 426 surface samples from 16 sites put it at 183 mg/L. In Union County the wells come out 3.0 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 299 lb of salt a year (8 bags of 40 lb, about $54), 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 $154 a year.
Sizing at 13.7 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 822 | 24,000 | 100 lb |
| 2 | 1,644 | 24,000 | 200 lb |
| 4 | 3,288 | 24,000 | 400 lb |
| 6 | 4,932 | 40,000 | 600 lb |
Union County against the rest of New Jersey
Among the 21 New Jersey counties with data, Union County is number 4 of 21 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 65% of counties.
Softest in New Jersey: Ocean County at 0.8 gpg. Hardest: Hudson County at 17.2 gpg. Closest to Union County: Warren County (12.6), Sussex County (12.3), Bergen County (16.9).