How hard is the water in Homewood, IL?
Reported by Homewood · June 2025
- IL typical
- 139 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Homewood water measures 112 mg/L (6.5 gpg) of hardness, moderately hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Homewood, dated June 2025.
At 112 mg/L, Homewood is 27 mg/L below the typical Illinois figure of 139. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has softer water. The range nearby runs from 140 mg/L in South Holland to 524 in Crete.
What 112 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.
3 people × 75 gallons a day × 6.5 gpg = 1,474 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 16 days.
EPA record for Homewood's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 19,463 people from surface water.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 5
- Open now
- 1
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 Homewood water hard?
Somewhat. It measures about 112 mg/L (6.5 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as moderately hard.
What is the water hardness in Homewood in grains per gallon?
About 6.5 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 112 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 6.5.
What size water softener do I need in Homewood?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 6.5 gpg works out to about 1,474 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 16 days.
Has the Homewood water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Homewood since 2016. There were also 5 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Flossmoor146 mg/LHard
- Chicago Heights229 mg/LVery hard
- South Holland140 mg/LHard
- Park Forest163 mg/LHard
- Dolton229 mg/LVery hard
- Richton Park206 mg/LVery hard
- Calumet City229 mg/LVery hard
- Blue Island229 mg/LVery hard
- Tinley Park300 mg/LVery hard
- Crete524 mg/LVery hard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, June 7, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.