How hard is the water in Arvada, CO?

Tap water hardness
93mg/L
5.5gpg
Moderately hard

Reported by Denver Water Board · October 2025

CO typical
97 mg/L
EPA health violations since 2016
0
Softener for 3 people
24k grain
Data
Utility report

Arvada water measures 93 mg/L (5.5 gpg) of hardness, moderately hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Denver Water Board, dated October 2025.

Arvada on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+CO typical 97Louisville: 32 mg/LLouisville 32Wheat Ridge: 96 mg/LWheat Ridge 96Berkley: 96 mg/LBerkley 96Welby: 96 mg/LWelby 96Lakewood: 97 mg/LLakewood 97Twin Lakes: 99 mg/LTwin Lakes 99Westminster: 100 mg/LWestminster 100Sherrelwood: 100 mg/LSherrelwood 100Federal Heights: 119 mg/LFederal Heights 119Shaw Heights: 127 mg/LShaw Heights 127Arvada 93mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+CO 97Wheat Ridge: 96 mg/LWheat Ridge 96Berkley: 96 mg/LBerkley 96Twin Lakes: 99 mg/LTwin Lakes 99Westminster: 100 mg/LWestminster 100Federal Heights: 119 mg/LFederal He. 119Shaw Heights: 127 mg/LShaw Heigh. 12793 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

Arvada sits close to the typical Colorado figure of 97 mg/L. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 1 has softer water and 9 have harder. The range nearby runs from 32 mg/L in Louisville to 127 in Shaw Heights.

What 93 mg/L means at home

You may see faint white spots on glasses and shower doors after the water dries.

Scale builds up slowly. A kettle or coffee maker needs descaling now and then, maybe every few months.

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

Optional. Plenty of households at this level live with it and descale the kettle now and then.

Water softener

Worth a look if spots on glass bother you, or if your tankless water heater manual asks for softer water.

Carbon filter

Improves taste and removes chlorine. It leaves calcium and magnesium in place.

Softener size for Arvada

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 5.5 gpg = 1,228 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 19 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Arvada's water system

Arvada City of · PWSID CO0130001

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 171,610 people from surface water.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
4
Open now
0

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

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 Arvada water hard?

Somewhat. It measures about 93 mg/L (5.5 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as moderately hard.

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

About 5.5 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 93 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 5.5.

What size water softener do I need in Arvada?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 5.5 gpg works out to about 1,228 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 19 days.

Has the Arvada water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Arvada City of since 2016. There were also 4 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.

Nearby cities

All 64 cities in Colorado

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.