How hard is the water in Wayne County, IL?
10.1 grains per gallon
A softener is worth it here.
The median hardness measured in Wayne County, IL is 173 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 10.1 gpg. That is hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 227 samples at 14 sites between 1990 and 2004, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 8.7 and 11.6 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: high (how it is measured).
What to do next
At 10.1 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 Wayne 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 7.3 to 19.3 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Wayne County was 124.5 mg/L and the hardest 330 mg/L, a 3-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 11.6 gpg and the bottom quarter below 8.7 gpg.
Wells 19.3 gpg, rivers and lakes 10 gpg
9 groundwater samples from 1 wells put the median at 330 mg/L. 218 surface samples from 13 sites put it at 171 mg/L. In Wayne County the wells come out 9.3 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 220 lb of salt a year (6 bags of 40 lb, about $40), 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 $140 a year.
Sizing at 10.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 606 | 24,000 | 74 lb |
| 2 | 1,212 | 24,000 | 147 lb |
| 4 | 2,424 | 24,000 | 295 lb |
| 6 | 3,636 | 32,000 | 442 lb |
Wayne County against the rest of Illinois
Among the 102 Illinois counties with data, Wayne County is number 94 of 102 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 52% of counties.
Softest in Illinois: Pope County at 4.3 gpg. Hardest: Cook County at 34.8 gpg. Closest to Wayne County: Marion County (9.9), Jackson County (10.5), Franklin County (9.4).