Hard water in Carrollton, TX

Tap water hardness
136mg/L
8.0gpg
Hard

Reported by City of Carrollton · September 2025

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

The water in Carrollton carries roughly 136 mg/L of dissolved calcium and magnesium, or 8.0 grains per gallon. That is hard water. The number comes from City of Carrollton, dated September 2025.

Carrollton on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+TX typical 112The Colony: 11 mg/LThe Colony 11Grapevine: 53 mg/LGrapevine 53Irving: 81 mg/LIrving 81University Park: 88 mg/LUniversity Park 88Lewisville: 90 mg/LLewisville 90Hickory Creek: 93 mg/LHickory Creek 93Coppell: 143 mg/LCoppell 143Plano: 150 mg/LPlano 150Richardson: 150 mg/LRichardson 150Farmers Branch: 168 mg/LFarmers Branch 168Carrollton 136mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+TX 112The Colony: 11 mg/LThe Colony 11Irving: 81 mg/LIrving 81Lewisville: 90 mg/LLewisville 90Coppell: 143 mg/LCoppell 143Plano: 150 mg/LPlano 150Farmers Branch: 168 mg/LFarmers Br. 168136 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

Carrollton sits 24 mg/L above the typical Texas figure of 112. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 6 have softer water and 4 have harder. The range nearby runs from 11 mg/L in The Colony to 168 in Farmers Branch.

What 136 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 136 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 Carrollton

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 8.0 gpg = 1,789 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 13 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Carrollton's water system

City of Carrollton · PWSID TX0570034

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 136,170 people from surface water.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
1
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 Carrollton water hard?

Yes. It measures about 136 mg/L (8.0 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.

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

About 8.0 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 136 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 8.0.

What size water softener do I need in Carrollton?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 8.0 gpg works out to about 1,789 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 13 days.

Has the Carrollton water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for City of Carrollton since 2016. There were also 1 monitoring or reporting violation, which are about late or missing tests and notices.

Nearby cities

All 342 cities in Texas

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, September 9, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.