Smyrna, DE water hardness

Tap water hardness
31mg/L
1.8gpg
Soft

Reported by Garrison Lake Pump District · September 2025

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

Smyrna water measures 31 mg/L (1.8 gpg) of hardness, soft by USGS standards. The number comes from Garrison Lake Pump District, dated September 2025.

Smyrna on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+DE typical 87Dover: 40 mg/LDover 40Middletown: 52 mg/LMiddletown 52New Castle: 87 mg/LNew Castle 87Brookside: 87 mg/LBrookside 87Wilmington Manor: 87 mg/LWilmington Manor 87Pike Creek Valley: 87 mg/LPike Creek Valley 87Elsmere: 87 mg/LElsmere 87Glasgow: 90 mg/LGlasgow 90Bear: 94 mg/LBear 94Newark: 94 mg/LNewark 94Smyrna 31mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+DE 87Dover: 40 mg/LDover 40Middletown: 52 mg/LMiddletown 52New Castle: 87 mg/LNew Castle 87Brookside: 87 mg/LBrookside 87Glasgow: 90 mg/LGlasgow 90Bear: 94 mg/LBear 9431 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

At 31 mg/L, Smyrna is 56 mg/L below the typical Delaware figure of 87. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has softer water. The range nearby runs from 40 mg/L in Dover to 94 in Bear.

What 31 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 31 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 Smyrna's water system

Garrison Lake Pump District · PWSID DE0000004

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 17,148 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 Smyrna water hard?

No. It measures about 31 mg/L (1.8 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as soft.

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

About 1.8 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 31 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 1.8.

Has the Smyrna water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Garrison Lake Pump District since 2016.

Nearby cities

All 17 cities in Delaware

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, September 8, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.