Hard water in Livingston, TX
Reported by Lake Livingston Beech Creek Village · June 2022
- TX typical
- 112 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Tap water in Livingston has about 167 mg/L of hardness, which is 9.8 grains per gallon. On the USGS scale that counts as hard. The number comes from Lake Livingston Beech Creek Village, dated June 2022. Reports for this system disagree, with values from 167 to 219 mg/L.
Livingston sits 55 mg/L above the typical Texas figure of 112. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has harder water. The range nearby runs from 23 mg/L in Dayton to 100 in West Livingston.
What 167 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 167 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 × 9.8 gpg = 2,198 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 10 days.
EPA record for Livingston's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 655 people from groundwater.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 2
- 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 Livingston water hard?
Yes. It measures about 167 mg/L (9.8 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Livingston in grains per gallon?
About 9.8 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 167 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 9.8.
What size water softener do I need in Livingston?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 9.8 gpg works out to about 2,198 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 10 days.
Has the Livingston water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Lake Livingston Beech Creek Village since 2016. There were also 2 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- West Livingston100 mg/LModerately hard
- Cleveland78 mg/LModerately hard
- Huntsville38 mg/LSoft
- Willis57 mg/LSoft
- Conroe82 mg/LModerately hard
- Liberty71 mg/LModerately hard
- Dayton23 mg/LSoft
- The Woodlands44 mg/LSoft
- Silsbee81 mg/LModerately hard
- Crockett57 mg/LSoft
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, June 24, 2022), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.