Hard water in Enola, PA
Reported by PA American Water CO West · December 2023
- PA typical
- 127 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Tap water in Enola has about 128 mg/L of hardness, which is 7.5 grains per gallon. On the USGS scale that counts as hard. The number comes from PA American Water CO West, dated December 2023.
Enola sits close to the typical Pennsylvania figure of 127 mg/L. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 5 have softer water and 2 have harder. The range nearby runs from 30 mg/L in Progress to 255 in Elizabethtown.
What 128 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 128 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 × 7.5 gpg = 1,685 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 14 days.
EPA record for Enola's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 105,127 people from surface water.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 5
- Open now
- 0
TapWaterData ties Enola to this system. EPA's service-area records do not name Enola, 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 Enola water hard?
Yes. It measures about 128 mg/L (7.5 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Enola in grains per gallon?
About 7.5 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 128 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 7.5.
What size water softener do I need in Enola?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 7.5 gpg works out to about 1,685 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 14 days.
Has the Enola water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for PA American Water CO West since 2016. There were also 5 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Harrisburg40 mg/LSoft
- Camp Hill128 mg/LHard
- Lower Allen128 mg/LHard
- Progress30 mg/LSoft
- New Cumberland128 mg/LHard
- Mechanicsburg120 mg/LModerately hard
- Middletown57 mg/LSoft
- Carlisle176 mg/LHard
- Elizabethtown255 mg/LVery hard
- Shiloh83 mg/LModerately hard
All 172 cities in Pennsylvania
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, December 20, 2023), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.