Hard water in Hays, KS

Tap water hardness
171mg/L
10.0gpg
Hard

Reported by Hays, City of · June 2022

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

The water in Hays carries roughly 171 mg/L of dissolved calcium and magnesium, or 10.0 grains per gallon. That is hard water. The number comes from Hays, City of, dated June 2022.

Hays on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+KS typical 138Valley Center: 133 mg/LValley Center 133Park City: 138 mg/LPark City 138Wichita: 138 mg/LWichita 138Junction City: 168 mg/LJunction City 168Newton: 260 mg/LNewton 260Goddard: 268 mg/LGoddard 268Salina: 330 mg/LSalina 330Great Bend: 395 mg/LGreat Bend 395McPherson: 363 mg/LMcPherson 363Garden City: 375 mg/LGarden City 375Hays 171mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+KS 138Newton: 260 mg/LNewton 260Goddard: 268 mg/LGoddard 268Salina: 330 mg/LSalina 330Great Bend: 395 mg/LGreat Bend 395McPherson: 363 mg/LMcPherson 363Garden City: 375 mg/LGarden City 375171 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

Hays sits 33 mg/L above the typical Kansas figure of 138. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 4 have softer water and 6 have harder. The range nearby runs from 133 mg/L in Valley Center to 395 in Great Bend.

What 171 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 171 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 Hays

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 10.0 gpg = 2,246 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 10 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Hays's water system

Hays, City of · PWSID KS2005111

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 21,040 people from groundwater.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
3
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 Hays water hard?

Yes. It measures about 171 mg/L (10.0 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.

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

About 10.0 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 171 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 10.0.

What size water softener do I need in Hays?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 10.0 gpg works out to about 2,246 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 10 days.

Has the Hays water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Hays, City of since 2016. There were also 3 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.

Nearby cities

All 48 cities in Kansas

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, June 14, 2022), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.