Hard water in Pacific, MO
Reported by Franklin County PWSD 3 · June 2024
- MO typical
- 121 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Pacific water measures 197 mg/L (11.5 gpg) of hardness, very hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Franklin County PWSD 3, dated June 2024. Reports for this system disagree, with values from 135 to 284 mg/L.
Pacific sits 76 mg/L above the typical Missouri figure of 121. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 6 have softer water and 4 have harder. The range nearby runs from 79 mg/L in Eureka to 263 in Des Peres.
What 197 mg/L means at home
Scale forms fast here. Kettles and coffee makers need regular descaling, and showerheads clog unless you clean them.
Tank water heaters collect mineral sediment that insulates the water from the burner, so flushing the tank matters more than usual.
Dishes and glass shower doors spot easily. Soap scum and a dull film on hair or laundry are common complaints.
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 197 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 × 11.5 gpg = 2,594 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 9 days.
EPA record for Pacific's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 6,000 people from groundwater.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 8
- Open now
- 2
EPA lists Pacific PWS as the system serving Pacific. The hardness figure above comes from a different system's report, which TapWaterData uses for Pacific.
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 Pacific water hard?
Yes. It measures about 197 mg/L (11.5 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as very hard.
What is the water hardness in Pacific in grains per gallon?
About 11.5 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 197 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 11.5.
What size water softener do I need in Pacific?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 11.5 gpg works out to about 2,594 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 9 days.
Has the Pacific water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Pacific PWS since 2016. There were also 8 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Eureka79 mg/LModerately hard
- Ballwin242 mg/LVery hard
- Union188 mg/LVery hard
- Murphy104 mg/LModerately hard
- Washington210 mg/LVery hard
- Chesterfield121 mg/LHard
- Town and Country234 mg/LVery hard
- Des Peres263 mg/LVery hard
- Kirkwood130 mg/LHard
- Cottleville120 mg/LHard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, June 19, 2024), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.