How hard is the water in Wyoming County, NY?
13.1 grains per gallon
A softener will pay its way here.
The median hardness measured in Wyoming County, NY is 225 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 13.1 gpg. That is very hard on the USGS scale. It comes from 23 samples at 17 sites between 2001 and 2021, 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 12.2 and 17.7 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 13.1 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 8.1 to 53.2 gpg
The softest single sample on record in Wyoming County was 138 mg/L and the hardest 910 mg/L, a 7-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 17.7 gpg and the bottom quarter below 12.2 gpg.
Wells 13.1 gpg, rivers and lakes 12 gpg
23 groundwater samples from 17 wells put the median at 225 mg/L. 40 surface samples from 4 sites put it at 204.8 mg/L. In Wyoming County the wells come out 1.1 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. The two sources are close, so the county figure should hold whichever one your tap is on.
What a softener would cost to run
For a household of 3, a 24,000-grain unit covers a week between regenerations. Expect about 287 lb of salt a year (8 bags of 40 lb, about $52), 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 $152 a year.
Sizing at 13.1 gpg
| People | Grains a day | Unit | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 786 | 24,000 | 96 lb |
| 2 | 1,572 | 24,000 | 191 lb |
| 4 | 3,144 | 24,000 | 383 lb |
| 6 | 4,716 | 40,000 | 574 lb |
Wyoming County against the rest of New York
Among the 61 New York counties with data, Wyoming County is number 21 of 61 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 63% of counties.
Softest in New York: Suffolk County at 1.6 gpg. Hardest: New York County at 161.1 gpg. Closest to Wyoming County: Jefferson County (13.3), Bronx County (13), Orange County (13.3).