Hard water in Big Bear City, CA
Reported by Big Bear Lake DWP - Big Bear System · May 2025
- CA typical
- 121 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
The water in Big Bear City carries roughly 161 mg/L of dissolved calcium and magnesium, or 9.4 grains per gallon. That is hard water. The number comes from Big Bear Lake DWP - Big Bear System, dated May 2025. Reports for this system disagree, with values from 91 to 161 mg/L.
At 161 mg/L, Big Bear City is 40 mg/L above the typical California figure of 121. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 7 have softer water and 3 have harder. The range nearby runs from 36 mg/L in Running Springs to 213 in Desert Hot Springs.
What 161 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 161 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 = 2,115 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 11 days.
EPA record for Big Bear City's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 12,738 people from groundwater.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 0
- Open now
- 0
EPA lists Big Bear City CSD as the system serving Big Bear City. The hardness figure above comes from a different system's report, which TapWaterData uses for Big Bear City.
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 Big Bear City water hard?
Yes. It measures about 161 mg/L (9.4 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Big Bear City in grains per gallon?
About 9.4 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 161 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 9.4.
What size water softener do I need in Big Bear City?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 9.4 gpg works out to about 2,115 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 11 days.
Has the Big Bear City water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Big Bear City CSD since 2016.
Nearby cities
- Big Bear Lake173 mg/LHard
- Lucerne Valley53 mg/LSoft
- Running Springs36 mg/LSoft
- Yucaipa108 mg/LModerately hard
- Lake Arrowhead56 mg/LSoft
- Banning186 mg/LVery hard
- Mentone111 mg/LModerately hard
- Highland123 mg/LHard
- Yucca Valley110 mg/LModerately hard
- Desert Hot Springs213 mg/LVery hard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, May 19, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.