Hard water in Billings, MT

Tap water hardness
159mg/L
9.3gpg
Hard

Reported by Billings City of · April 2024

MT typical
116 mg/L
EPA health violations since 2016
0
Softener for 3 people
24k grain
Data
Utility report

The water in Billings carries roughly 159 mg/L of dissolved calcium and magnesium, or 9.3 grains per gallon. That is hard water. The number comes from Billings City of, dated April 2024.

Billings on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+MT typical 116Kalispell: 73 mg/LKalispell 73Bozeman: 92 mg/LBozeman 92Butte: 97 mg/LButte 97Missoula: 116 mg/LMissoula 116Orchard Homes: 116 mg/LOrchard Homes 116Great Falls: 145 mg/LGreat Falls 145Belgrade: 226 mg/LBelgrade 226Sidney: 491 mg/LSidney 491Billings 159mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+MT 116Bozeman: 92 mg/LBozeman 92Butte: 97 mg/LButte 97Missoula: 116 mg/LMissoula 116Great Falls: 145 mg/LGreat Falls 145Belgrade: 226 mg/LBelgrade 226Sidney: 491 mg/LSidney 491159 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

Billings sits 43 mg/L above the typical Montana figure of 116. Of the 8 nearest cities we track, 6 have softer water and 2 have harder. The range nearby runs from 73 mg/L in Kalispell to 491 in Sidney.

What 159 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 159 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.

Softener size for Billings

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 9.3 gpg = 2,092 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 11 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Billings's water system

Billings City of · PWSID MT0000153

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 114,000 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 Billings water hard?

Yes. It measures about 159 mg/L (9.3 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.

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

About 9.3 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 159 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 9.3.

What size water softener do I need in Billings?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 9.3 gpg works out to about 2,092 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 11 days.

Has the Billings water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Billings City of since 2016.

Nearby cities

All 9 cities in Montana

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, April 14, 2024), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.