How hard is the water in Washington County, TX?
8 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Washington County, TX is 137 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 8 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 36 samples at 3 sites between 1990 and 1991, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 7.9 and 8 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 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.
More on sizing a softener for your household.
From 7.9 to 8.0 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Washington County was 135.5 mg/L and the hardest 137 mg/L, a 1-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 8 gpg and the bottom quarter below 7.9 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 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 |
Washington County against the rest of Texas
Among the 217 Texas counties with data, Washington County is number 150 of 217 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 43% of counties.
Softest in Texas: Nacogdoches County at 0.3 gpg. Hardest: Ward County at 218.5 gpg. Closest to Washington County: Clay County (8), Fannin County (7.9), Collin County (7.9).