Hard water in Fortuna Foothills, AZ
Reported by Foothills Water and Sewer LLC · June 2022
- AZ typical
- 180 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 2
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Fortuna Foothills water measures 160 mg/L (9.4 gpg) of hardness, hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Foothills Water and Sewer LLC, dated June 2022.
Fortuna Foothills sits 20 mg/L below the typical Arizona figure of 180. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 4 have softer water and 6 have harder. The range nearby runs from 75 mg/L in Youngtown to 383 in Yuma.
What 160 mg/L means at home
Expect white crust on faucets and showerheads, plus spots on dishes that come out of the dishwasher.
Kettles collect scale quickly. Water heaters build up sediment at the bottom of the tank, which makes them work harder over time.
Soap and detergent need a little more to lather, and soap scum shows up in the tub.
Hardness is not a health problem, and EPA sets no limit for it. It is a matter of scale and soap.
What to do about it
At 160 mg/L most of the trouble is scale, and only a few things deal with it.
Ion-exchange water softener
The standard whole-house fix. It swaps calcium and magnesium for sodium or potassium and needs salt plus a drain. Size it with the calculator below.
Salt-free conditioner
No salt and no drain line. It changes how minerals form scale instead of removing them, so water still tests hard.
Reverse osmosis or carbon filter
Under-sink reverse osmosis removes minerals from drinking water only. Plain carbon filters improve taste but do not soften.
3 people × 75 gallons a day × 9.4 gpg = 2,106 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 11 days.
EPA record for Fortuna Foothills's water system
2 health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 32,425 people from surface water.
- Health-based
- 2
- Monitoring or reporting
- 448
- Open now
- 0
TapWaterData ties Fortuna Foothills to this system. EPA's service-area records do not name Fortuna Foothills, so check the utility printed on your water bill.
| Contaminant or rule | Violations | Period | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2)filtration and disinfection | 1 | 2019 | Resolved |
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)a disinfection byproduct | 1 | 2018 | Resolved |
Health-based means a contaminant above its legal limit or a missed treatment step. Monitoring and reporting violations are late or missing tests and notices. Source: EPA ECHO, 2026Q3 export, violations with periods starting 2016 or later. Full EPA record.
Questions
Is Fortuna Foothills water hard?
Yes. It measures about 160 mg/L (9.4 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Fortuna Foothills in grains per gallon?
About 9.4 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 160 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 9.4.
What size water softener do I need in Fortuna Foothills?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 9.4 gpg works out to about 2,106 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 11 days.
Has the Fortuna Foothills water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show 2 health-based violations for Foothills Water and Sewer LLC since 2016, involving Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2), Total trihalomethanes (TTHM). There were also 448 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Yuma383 mg/LVery hard
- San Luis383 mg/LVery hard
- Goodyear154 mg/LHard
- Lake Havasu City284 mg/LVery hard
- Avondale105 mg/LModerately hard
- El Mirage208 mg/LVery hard
- Youngtown75 mg/LModerately hard
- Sun City75 mg/LModerately hard
- Glendale168 mg/LHard
- Maricopa220 mg/LVery hard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, June 16, 2022), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.