How hard is the water in Bixby, OK?
Reported by Wagoner CO. RWD #4 · August 2025
- OK typical
- 152 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 1
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Bixby water measures 92 mg/L (5.4 gpg) of hardness, moderately hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Wagoner CO. RWD #4, dated August 2025.
Bixby sits 60 mg/L below the typical Oklahoma figure of 152. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has softer water. The range nearby runs from 92 mg/L in Broken Arrow to 153 in Owasso.
What 92 mg/L means at home
You may see faint white spots on glasses and shower doors after the water dries.
Scale builds up slowly. A kettle or coffee maker needs descaling now and then, maybe every few months.
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
Optional. Plenty of households at this level live with it and descale the kettle now and then.
Water softener
Worth a look if spots on glass bother you, or if your tankless water heater manual asks for softer water.
Carbon filter
Improves taste and removes chlorine. It leaves calcium and magnesium in place.
3 people × 75 gallons a day × 5.4 gpg = 1,213 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 19 days.
EPA record for Bixby's water system
1 health-based violation since 2016
Serves about 18,750 people from surface water.
- Health-based
- 1
- Monitoring or reporting
- 7
- Open now
- 3
EPA lists Bixby Public Works Authority as the system serving Bixby. The hardness figure above comes from a different system's report, which TapWaterData uses for Bixby.
| Contaminant or rule | Violations | Period | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead and Copper Rulecorrosion control and lead sampling | 1 | 2024 | Resolved |
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 Bixby water hard?
Somewhat. It measures about 92 mg/L (5.4 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as moderately hard.
What is the water hardness in Bixby in grains per gallon?
About 5.4 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 92 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 5.4.
What size water softener do I need in Bixby?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 5.4 gpg works out to about 1,213 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 19 days.
Has the Bixby water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show 1 health-based violation for Bixby Public Works Authority since 2016, involving Lead and Copper Rule. There were also 7 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Jenks148 mg/LHard
- Broken Arrow92 mg/LModerately hard
- Coweta92 mg/LModerately hard
- Tulsa110 mg/LModerately hard
- Sapulpa111 mg/LModerately hard
- Catoosa92 mg/LModerately hard
- Sand Springs111 mg/LModerately hard
- Owasso153 mg/LHard
- Skiatook153 mg/LHard
- Collinsville153 mg/LHard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, August 18, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.