Hard water in Urbana, MD
Reported by New Design - Frederick County · January 2024
- MD typical
- 105 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
The water in Urbana carries roughly 132 mg/L of dissolved calcium and magnesium, or 7.7 grains per gallon. That is hard water. The number comes from New Design - Frederick County, dated January 2024.
Urbana sits 27 mg/L above the typical Maryland figure of 105. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has harder water. The range nearby runs from 4 mg/L in Fort Meade to 131 in Mount Airy.
What 132 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 132 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.
3 people × 75 gallons a day × 7.7 gpg = 1,737 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 13 days.
EPA record for Urbana's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 74,911 people from surface water.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 3
- Open now
- 0
TapWaterData ties Urbana to this system. EPA's service-area records do not name Urbana, so check the utility printed on your water bill.
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 Urbana water hard?
Yes. It measures about 132 mg/L (7.7 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Urbana in grains per gallon?
About 7.7 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 132 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 7.7.
What size water softener do I need in Urbana?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 7.7 gpg works out to about 1,737 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 13 days.
Has the Urbana water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for New Design - Frederick County since 2016. There were also 3 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Frederick105 mg/LModerately hard
- Mount Airy131 mg/LHard
- Poolesville84 mg/LModerately hard
- Brunswick84 mg/LModerately hard
- Westminster62 mg/LModerately hard
- Columbia74 mg/LModerately hard
- Ellicott City82 mg/LModerately hard
- Hagerstown126 mg/LHard
- Takoma Park110 mg/LModerately hard
- Fort Meade4 mg/LSoft
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, January 2, 2024), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.