Bath, ME water hardness

Tap water hardness
9mg/L
0.5gpg
Soft

Reported by Bath Water District · November 2024

ME typical
16 mg/L
EPA health violations since 2016
0
Data
Utility report

Bath water measures 9 mg/L (0.5 gpg) of hardness, soft by USGS standards. The number comes from Bath Water District, dated November 2024.

Bath on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+ME typical 16Portland: 8 mg/LPortland 8South Portland: 8 mg/LSouth Portland 8Gorham: 8 mg/LGorham 8Brunswick: 14 mg/LBrunswick 14Lewiston: 16 mg/LLewiston 16Topsham: 39 mg/LTopsham 39Yarmouth: 76 mg/LYarmouth 76Auburn: 89 mg/LAuburn 89Gardiner: 96 mg/LGardiner 96Augusta: 136 mg/LAugusta 136Bath 9mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+ME 16Brunswick: 14 mg/LBrunswick 14Lewiston: 16 mg/LLewiston 16Topsham: 39 mg/LTopsham 39Yarmouth: 76 mg/LYarmouth 76Auburn: 89 mg/LAuburn 89Gardiner: 96 mg/LGardiner 969 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 9 mg/L, Bath is close to the typical Maine figure of 16 mg/L. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 3 have softer water and 7 have harder. The range nearby runs from 8 mg/L in Portland to 136 in Augusta.

What 9 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 9 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 Bath's water system

Bath Water District · PWSID ME0090130

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 9,205 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 Bath water hard?

No. It measures about 9 mg/L (0.5 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as soft.

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

About 0.5 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 9 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 0.5.

Has the Bath water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Bath 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, November 20, 2024), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.