Gainesville, GA water hardness

Tap water hardness
15mg/L
0.9gpg
Soft

Reported by Gainesville · December 2024

GA typical
28 mg/L
EPA health violations since 2016
0
Data
Utility report

Tap water in Gainesville 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 Gainesville, dated December 2024.

Gainesville on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+GA typical 28Oakwood: 15 mg/LOakwood 15Tucker: 18 mg/LTucker 18Cumming: 20 mg/LCumming 20Milton: 20 mg/LMilton 20Hoschton: 21 mg/LHoschton 21Lawrenceville: 21 mg/LLawrenceville 21Winder: 31 mg/LWinder 31Alpharetta: 31 mg/LAlpharetta 31Braselton: 40 mg/LBraselton 40Athens: 54 mg/LAthens 54Gainesville 15mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+GA 28Oakwood: 15 mg/LOakwood 15Cumming: 20 mg/LCumming 20Hoschton: 21 mg/LHoschton 21Lawrenceville: 21 mg/LLawrencevi. 21Winder: 31 mg/LWinder 31Braselton: 40 mg/LBraselton 4015 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 15 mg/L, Gainesville is 13 mg/L below the typical Georgia figure of 28. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has softer water. The range nearby runs from 15 mg/L in Oakwood to 54 in Athens.

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 Gainesville's water system

Gainesville · PWSID GA1390001

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 140,000 people from surface water.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
1
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 Gainesville 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 Gainesville 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 Gainesville water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Gainesville since 2016. There were also 1 monitoring or reporting violation, which are about late or missing tests and notices.

Nearby cities

All 85 cities in Georgia

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, December 5, 2024), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.