Water Hardness Chart
Water hardness chart for sizing water softener systems. This page is designed to explain to the customer what is considered to be hard water. It is very important that you determine your hardness before buying your water treatment equipment. Water softeners are much more efficient when you get the correct size.
What is considered hard water? How many grains per gallon or whatever? GPG Means "Grains per gallon" PPM means "Parts per million" MG/L means "Milligrams per liter"
Note: PPM and MG/L are the same thing.
Water Hardness Chart
Treated (or softened water) = 0-1 GPG (total grains x 17.1 equals ppm)
Slightly hard = 1-2 GPG (total grains x 17.1 equals ppm)
Medium Hard = 3-7 GPG (total grains x 17.1 equals ppm)
Hard = 7-10.5 GPG (total grains x 17.1 equals ppm)
Extremely Hard Water = 10.5+ GPG (total grains x 17.1 equals ppm)
WARNING: Beware of companies that tell you that each PPM of iron is equal to 4-5 Grains per gallon of hardness. The only time you see this is when an unscrupulous company is using a water softener as an iron filter. You should NEVER use a water softener as an iron filter when the iron is above .3PPM. You should remove iron above this number before it hits the softener or the softener will be affected by the iron over time increasing the salt usage, water usage and will eventually require the water softener to be serviced. These are usually the same type of companies who say it is ok to drink the water from a softener. You SHOULD NOT drink the water from any softener. If a water softener is necessary because the water is hard, either drink bottled water or add a reverse osmosis drinking system in the kitchen to remove the sodium that the softener leaves behind. It will also remove many other unwanted contaminants in the water and give you drinking water that's is as clean, or cleaner than bottled water right from the tap. We hope this page helped you understand how to determine your hardness. If you still have questions regarding hard water, please email us or call us anytime at the number below.
Water hardness chart for sizing water softener systems.
