Hard water in Plainview, TX
Reported by Plainview Municipal Water System · June 2022
- TX typical
- 112 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Plainview water measures 154 mg/L (9.0 gpg) of hardness, hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Plainview Municipal Water System, dated June 2022. Reports for this system disagree, with values from 154 to 235 mg/L.
At 154 mg/L, Plainview is 42 mg/L above the typical Texas figure of 112. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 5 have softer water and 5 have harder. The range nearby runs from 58 mg/L in Brownfield to 222 in Seminole.
What 154 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 154 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 × 9.0 gpg = 2,030 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 11 days.
EPA record for Plainview's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 21,104 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 Plainview water hard?
Yes. It measures about 154 mg/L (9.0 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Plainview in grains per gallon?
About 9.0 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 154 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 9.0.
What size water softener do I need in Plainview?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 9.0 gpg works out to about 2,030 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 11 days.
Has the Plainview water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Plainview Municipal Water System since 2016. There were also 1 monitoring or reporting violation, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Lubbock205 mg/LVery hard
- Levelland193 mg/LVery hard
- Canyon136 mg/LHard
- Amarillo106 mg/LModerately hard
- Brownfield58 mg/LSoft
- Lamesa185 mg/LVery hard
- Borger164 mg/LHard
- Pampa122 mg/LHard
- Snyder101 mg/LModerately hard
- Seminole222 mg/LVery hard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, June 26, 2022), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.