Lincoln, CA water hardness

Tap water hardness
15mg/L
0.9gpg
Soft

Reported by Placer Cwa - Foothill · September 2025

CA typical
121 mg/L
EPA health violations since 2016
0
Data
Utility report

Tap water in Lincoln has about 15 mg/L of hardness, which is 0.9 grains per gallon. On the USGS scale that counts as soft. The number comes from Placer Cwa - Foothill, dated September 2025.

Lincoln on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+CA typical 121Rocklin: 11 mg/LRocklin 11Loomis: 11 mg/LLoomis 11Auburn: 11 mg/LAuburn 11North Auburn: 12 mg/LNorth Auburn 12Granite Bay: 13 mg/LGranite Bay 13Roseville: 19 mg/LRoseville 19Orangevale: 45 mg/LOrangevale 45Citrus Heights: 82 mg/LCitrus Heights 82Antelope: 90 mg/LAntelope 90Foothill Farms: 92 mg/LFoothill Farms 92Lincoln 15mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+CA 121Rocklin: 11 mg/LRocklin 11Loomis: 11 mg/LLoomis 11Auburn: 11 mg/LAuburn 11Granite Bay: 13 mg/LGranite Bay 13Roseville: 19 mg/LRoseville 19Antelope: 90 mg/LAntelope 9015 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

Lincoln sits 106 mg/L below the typical California figure of 121. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 5 have softer water and 5 have harder. The range nearby runs from 11 mg/L in Rocklin to 92 in Foothill Farms.

What 15 mg/L means at home

Soap and shampoo lather with very little product. Kettles and showerheads stay mostly free of white crust.

Some people notice that soap feels slow to rinse off in soft water. That slippery feel is normal and harmless.

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

Nothing, as far as hardness goes. At 15 mg/L a softener would have almost nothing to remove.

Carbon filter

If the water tastes of chlorine, a pitcher or faucet carbon filter takes care of that. It does not change hardness.

EPA record for Lincoln's water system

City of Lincoln · PWSID CA3110004

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 56,268 people from surface water.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
0
Open now
0

EPA lists City of Lincoln as the system serving Lincoln. The hardness figure above comes from a different system's report, which TapWaterData uses for Lincoln.

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 Lincoln water hard?

No. It measures about 15 mg/L (0.9 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as soft.

What is the water hardness in Lincoln in grains per gallon?

About 0.9 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 15 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 0.9.

Has the Lincoln water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for City of Lincoln since 2016.

Nearby cities

All 515 cities in California

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, September 22, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.