How hard is the water in Milwaukie, OR?

Tap water hardness
120mg/L
7.0gpg
Moderately hard

Reported by Milwaukie, City of · September 2025

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

Milwaukie water measures 120 mg/L (7.0 gpg) of hardness, moderately hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Milwaukie, City of, dated September 2025.

Milwaukie on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+OR typical 24Portland: 20 mg/LPortland 20Oak Grove: 23 mg/LOak Grove 23Jennings Lodge: 23 mg/LJennings Lodge 23Gladstone: 23 mg/LGladstone 23West Linn: 23 mg/LWest Linn 23Garden Home-Whitford: 23 mg/LGarden Home-Whitford 23Happy Valley: 24 mg/LHappy Valley 24Lake Oswego: 26 mg/LLake Oswego 26Raleigh Hills: 35 mg/LRaleigh Hills 35Oatfield: 56 mg/LOatfield 56Milwaukie 120mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+OR 24Oak Grove: 23 mg/LOak Grove 23Jennings Lodge: 23 mg/LJennings L. 23Gladstone: 23 mg/LGladstone 23West Linn: 23 mg/LWest Linn 23Lake Oswego: 26 mg/LLake Oswego 26Oatfield: 56 mg/LOatfield 56120 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 120 mg/L, Milwaukie is 96 mg/L above the typical Oregon figure of 24. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has harder water. The range nearby runs from 20 mg/L in Portland to 56 in Oatfield.

What 120 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.

Softener size for Milwaukie

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 7.0 gpg = 1,580 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 15 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Milwaukie's water system

Milwaukie, City of · PWSID OR4100528

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 20,946 people from groundwater.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
126
Open now
1

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 Milwaukie water hard?

Somewhat. It measures about 120 mg/L (7.0 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as moderately hard.

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

About 7.0 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 120 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 7.0.

What size water softener do I need in Milwaukie?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 7.0 gpg works out to about 1,580 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 15 days.

Has the Milwaukie water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Milwaukie, City of since 2016. There were also 126 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.

Nearby cities

All 53 cities in Oregon

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, September 2, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.