Lewiston, ME water hardness

Tap water hardness
16mg/L
0.9gpg
Soft

Reported by Lewiston Water & Sewer Division · June 2022

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

Lewiston water measures 16 mg/L (0.9 gpg) of hardness, soft by USGS standards. The number comes from Lewiston Water & Sewer Division, dated June 2022.

Lewiston 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 14Topsham: 39 mg/LTopsham 39Yarmouth: 76 mg/LYarmouth 76Auburn: 89 mg/LAuburn 89Gardiner: 96 mg/LGardiner 96Augusta: 136 mg/LAugusta 136Lewiston 16mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+ME 16Bath: 9 mg/LBath 9Brunswick: 14 mg/LBrunswick 14Topsham: 39 mg/LTopsham 39Yarmouth: 76 mg/LYarmouth 76Auburn: 89 mg/LAuburn 89Gardiner: 96 mg/LGardiner 9616 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 16 mg/L, Lewiston is close to the typical Maine figure of 16 mg/L. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 5 have softer water and 5 have harder. The range nearby runs from 8 mg/L in Gorham to 136 in Augusta.

What 16 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 16 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 Lewiston's water system

Lewiston Water & Sewer Division · PWSID ME0090830

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 23,720 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 Lewiston water hard?

No. It measures about 16 mg/L (0.9 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as soft.

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

About 0.9 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 16 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 0.9.

Has the Lewiston water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Lewiston Water & Sewer Division since 2016.

Nearby cities

All 23 cities in Maine

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, June 30, 2022), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.