How hard is the water in Auburn, ME?

Tap water hardness
89mg/L
5.2gpg
Moderately hard

Reported by Maplewood Mobile Home Park · June 2022

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

Auburn water measures 89 mg/L (5.2 gpg) of hardness, moderately hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Maplewood Mobile Home Park, dated June 2022.

Auburn on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+ME typical 16Gorham: 8 mg/LGorham 8Portland: 8 mg/LPortland 8South Portland: 8 mg/LSouth Portland 8Bath: 9 mg/LBath 9Brunswick: 14 mg/LBrunswick 14Lewiston: 16 mg/LLewiston 16Topsham: 39 mg/LTopsham 39Yarmouth: 76 mg/LYarmouth 76Gardiner: 96 mg/LGardiner 96Augusta: 136 mg/LAugusta 136Auburn 89mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+ME 16Bath: 9 mg/LBath 9Brunswick: 14 mg/LBrunswick 14Lewiston: 16 mg/LLewiston 16Topsham: 39 mg/LTopsham 39Yarmouth: 76 mg/LYarmouth 76Gardiner: 96 mg/LGardiner 9689 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

Auburn sits 73 mg/L above the typical Maine figure of 16. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 8 have softer water and 2 have harder. The range nearby runs from 8 mg/L in Gorham to 136 in Augusta.

What 89 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.

Softener size for Auburn

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 5.2 gpg = 1,168 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 20 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Auburn's water system

Auburn Water District · PWSID ME0090070

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 17,245 people from surface water.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
1
Open now
0

EPA lists Auburn Water District as the system serving Auburn. The hardness figure above comes from a different system's report, which TapWaterData uses for Auburn.

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 Auburn water hard?

Somewhat. It measures about 89 mg/L (5.2 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as moderately hard.

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

About 5.2 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 89 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 5.2.

What size water softener do I need in Auburn?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 5.2 gpg works out to about 1,168 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 20 days.

Has the Auburn water system had EPA violations?

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

Nearby cities

All 23 cities in Maine

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, June 16, 2022), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.