Hard water in Schertz, TX
Reported by San Antonio Water System · October 2025
- TX typical
- 112 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Schertz water measures 176 mg/L (10.3 gpg) of hardness, hard by USGS standards. The number comes from San Antonio Water System, dated October 2025. Reports for this system disagree, with values from 176 to 212 mg/L.
At 176 mg/L, Schertz is 64 mg/L above the typical Texas figure of 112. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 2 have softer water and 8 have harder. The range nearby runs from 85 mg/L in Cibolo to 202 in New Braunfels.
What 176 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 176 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 × 10.3 gpg = 2,320 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 10 days.
EPA record for Schertz's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 41,948 people from groundwater.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 6
- Open now
- 0
EPA lists City of Schertz as the system serving Schertz. The hardness figure above comes from a different system's report, which TapWaterData uses for Schertz.
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 Schertz water hard?
Yes. It measures about 176 mg/L (10.3 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Schertz in grains per gallon?
About 10.3 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 176 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 10.3.
What size water softener do I need in Schertz?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 10.3 gpg works out to about 2,320 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 10 days.
Has the Schertz water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for City of Schertz since 2016. There were also 6 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Cibolo85 mg/LModerately hard
- Universal City121 mg/LHard
- Selma180 mg/LHard
- Converse179 mg/LHard
- Live Oak180 mg/LHard
- Windcrest180 mg/LHard
- Kirby180 mg/LHard
- New Braunfels202 mg/LVery hard
- Terrell Hills180 mg/LHard
- Alamo Heights180 mg/LHard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, October 7, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.