Harrisburg, PA water hardness

Tap water hardness
40mg/L
2.4gpg
Soft

Reported by Capital Region Water · September 2025

PA typical
127 mg/L
EPA health violations since 2016
0
Data
Utility report

Harrisburg water measures 40 mg/L (2.4 gpg) of hardness, soft by USGS standards. The number comes from Capital Region Water, dated September 2025.

Harrisburg on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+PA typical 127Progress: 30 mg/LProgress 30Middletown: 57 mg/LMiddletown 57Shiloh: 83 mg/LShiloh 83Mechanicsburg: 120 mg/LMechanicsburg 120Enola: 128 mg/LEnola 128Camp Hill: 128 mg/LCamp Hill 128New Cumberland: 128 mg/LNew Cumberland 128Lower Allen: 128 mg/LLower Allen 128Carlisle: 176 mg/LCarlisle 176Elizabethtown: 255 mg/LElizabethtown 255Harrisburg 40mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+PA 127Progress: 30 mg/LProgress 30Mechanicsburg: 120 mg/LMechanicsb. 120Enola: 128 mg/LEnola 128Camp Hill: 128 mg/LCamp Hill 128New Cumberland: 128 mg/LNew Cumber. 128Lower Allen: 128 mg/LLower Allen 12840 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 40 mg/L, Harrisburg is 87 mg/L below the typical Pennsylvania figure of 127. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 1 has softer water and 9 have harder. The range nearby runs from 30 mg/L in Progress to 255 in Elizabethtown.

What 40 mg/L means at home

Soap and shampoo lather with very little product. Kettles and showerheads stay mostly free of white crust.

Some people notice that soap feels slow to rinse off in soft water. That slippery feel is normal and harmless.

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

Nothing, as far as hardness goes. At 40 mg/L a softener would have almost nothing to remove.

Carbon filter

If the water tastes of chlorine, a pitcher or faucet carbon filter takes care of that. It does not change hardness.

EPA record for Harrisburg's water system

Capital Region Water · PWSID PA7220049

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 66,540 people from surface water.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
9
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 Harrisburg water hard?

No. It measures about 40 mg/L (2.4 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as soft.

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

About 2.4 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 40 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 2.4.

Has the Harrisburg water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Capital Region Water since 2016. There were also 9 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.

Nearby cities

All 172 cities in Pennsylvania

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, September 24, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.