Hard water in Burbank, CA
Reported by Los Angeles-City, Dept. of Water & Power · October 2025
- CA typical
- 121 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
The water in Burbank carries roughly 133 mg/L of dissolved calcium and magnesium, or 7.8 grains per gallon. That is hard water. The number comes from Los Angeles-City, Dept. of Water & Power, dated October 2025.
Burbank sits 12 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 3 mg/L in La Crescenta-Montrose to 234 in Altadena.
What 133 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 133 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 × 7.8 gpg = 1,755 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 13 days.
EPA record for Burbank's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 106,146 people from surface water.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 5
- Open now
- 0
EPA lists Burbank-City, Water Dept. as the system serving Burbank. The hardness figure above comes from a different system's report, which TapWaterData uses for Burbank.
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 Burbank water hard?
Yes. It measures about 133 mg/L (7.8 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Burbank in grains per gallon?
About 7.8 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 133 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 7.8.
What size water softener do I need in Burbank?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 7.8 gpg works out to about 1,755 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 13 days.
Has the Burbank water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Burbank-City, Water Dept. since 2016. There were also 5 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Glendale86 mg/LModerately hard
- La Crescenta-Montrose3 mg/LSoft
- La Cañada Flintridge218 mg/LVery hard
- West Hollywood121 mg/LHard
- Beverly Hills121 mg/LHard
- San Fernando121 mg/LHard
- Altadena234 mg/LVery hard
- Pasadena230 mg/LVery hard
- South Pasadena128 mg/LHard
- Los Angeles121 mg/LHard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, October 7, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.