Brewer, ME water hardness

Tap water hardness
6mg/L
0.4gpg
Soft

Reported by Brewer Water Department · June 2022

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

The water in Brewer carries roughly 6 mg/L of dissolved calcium and magnesium, or 0.4 grains per gallon. That is soft water. The number comes from Brewer Water Department, dated June 2022.

Brewer on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+ME typical 16Bangor: 6 mg/LBangor 6Bath: 9 mg/LBath 9Winslow: 28 mg/LWinslow 28Topsham: 39 mg/LTopsham 39Orono: 44 mg/LOrono 44Old: 68 mg/LOld 68Ellsworth: 74 mg/LEllsworth 74Gardiner: 96 mg/LGardiner 96Waterville: 102 mg/LWaterville 102Augusta: 136 mg/LAugusta 136Brewer 6mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+ME 16Bangor: 6 mg/LBangor 6Winslow: 28 mg/LWinslow 28Orono: 44 mg/LOrono 44Old: 68 mg/LOld 68Ellsworth: 74 mg/LEllsworth 74Waterville: 102 mg/LWaterville 1026 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 6 mg/L, Brewer is close to the typical Maine figure of 16 mg/L. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has softer water. The range nearby runs from 6 mg/L in Bangor to 136 in Augusta.

What 6 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 6 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 Brewer's water system

Brewer Water Department · PWSID ME0090220

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 8,860 people from surface water.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
0
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 Brewer water hard?

No. It measures about 6 mg/L (0.4 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as soft.

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

About 0.4 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 6 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 0.4.

Has the Brewer water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Brewer Water Department since 2016.

Nearby cities

All 23 cities in Maine

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, June 15, 2022), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.