Dover, DE water hardness

Tap water hardness
40mg/L
2.3gpg
Soft

Reported by Rehoboth Pump District · January 2023

DE typical
87 mg/L
EPA health violations since 2016
0
Data
Utility report

Dover water measures 40 mg/L (2.3 gpg) of hardness, soft by USGS standards. The number comes from Rehoboth Pump District, dated January 2023.

Dover on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+DE typical 87Georgetown: 11 mg/LGeorgetown 11Smyrna: 31 mg/LSmyrna 31Middletown: 52 mg/LMiddletown 52New Castle: 87 mg/LNew Castle 87Brookside: 87 mg/LBrookside 87Wilmington Manor: 87 mg/LWilmington Manor 87Wilmington: 87 mg/LWilmington 87Glasgow: 90 mg/LGlasgow 90Bear: 94 mg/LBear 94Newark: 94 mg/LNewark 94Dover 40mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+DE 87Georgetown: 11 mg/LGeorgetown 11Smyrna: 31 mg/LSmyrna 31Middletown: 52 mg/LMiddletown 52New Castle: 87 mg/LNew Castle 87Glasgow: 90 mg/LGlasgow 90Bear: 94 mg/LBear 9440 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

Dover sits 47 mg/L below the typical Delaware figure of 87. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 2 have softer water and 8 have harder. The range nearby runs from 11 mg/L in Georgetown to 94 in Bear.

What 40 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 40 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 Dover's water system

Rehoboth Pump District (Tui) · PWSID DE0000991

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 81,417 people from groundwater.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
0
Open now
0

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 Dover water hard?

No. It measures about 40 mg/L (2.3 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as soft.

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

About 2.3 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 40 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 2.3.

Has the Dover water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Rehoboth Pump District (Tui) since 2016.

Nearby cities

All 17 cities in Delaware

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, January 3, 2023), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.