Hard water in Tallahassee, FL

Tap water hardness
136mg/L
8.0gpg
Hard

Reported by Tallahassee, City of · August 2025

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

Tallahassee water measures 136 mg/L (8.0 gpg) of hardness, hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Tallahassee, City of, dated August 2025.

Tallahassee on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+FL typical 120Crestview: 12 mg/LCrestview 12Lake Lorraine: 31 mg/LLake Lorraine 31Ocean City: 31 mg/LOcean City 31Wright: 31 mg/LWright 31Fort Walton Beach: 40 mg/LFort Walton Beach 40Panama City: 48 mg/LPanama City 48Lynn Haven: 48 mg/LLynn Haven 48Panama City Beach: 48 mg/LPanama City Beach 48Pine Ridge: 60 mg/LPine Ridge 60Gainesville: 140 mg/LGainesville 140Tallahassee 136mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+FL 120Crestview: 12 mg/LCrestview 12Lake Lorraine: 31 mg/LLake Lorra. 31Panama City: 48 mg/LPanama City 48Lynn Haven: 48 mg/LLynn Haven 48Panama City Beach: 48 mg/LPanama Cit. 48Gainesville: 140 mg/LGainesville 140136 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

Tallahassee sits 16 mg/L above the typical Florida figure of 120. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 9 have softer water and 1 has harder. The range nearby runs from 12 mg/L in Crestview to 140 in Gainesville.

What 136 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 136 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.

Softener size for Tallahassee

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 8.0 gpg = 1,789 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 13 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Tallahassee's water system

Tallahassee, City of · PWSID FL1370655

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 200,480 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 Tallahassee water hard?

Yes. It measures about 136 mg/L (8.0 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.

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

About 8.0 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 136 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 8.0.

What size water softener do I need in Tallahassee?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 8.0 gpg works out to about 1,789 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 13 days.

Has the Tallahassee water system had EPA violations?

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

Nearby cities

All 214 cities in Florida

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, August 19, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.