How hard is the water in Shady Hollow, TX?

Tap water hardness
63mg/L
3.7gpg
Moderately hardReports range 63–79

Reported by City of Austin Water & Wastewater · October 2025

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

Shady Hollow water measures 63 mg/L (3.7 gpg) of hardness, moderately hard by USGS standards. The number comes from City of Austin Water & Wastewater, dated October 2025. Reports for this system disagree, with values from 63 to 79 mg/L.

Shady Hollow on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+TX typical 112Austin: 68 mg/LAustin 68Steiner Ranch: 94 mg/LSteiner Ranch 94Lakeway: 106 mg/LLakeway 106Bee Cave: 110 mg/LBee Cave 110Kyle: 113 mg/LKyle 113Buda: 136 mg/LBuda 136Belterra: 143 mg/LBelterra 143Dripping Springs: 148 mg/LDripping Springs 148Hornsby Bend: 165 mg/LHornsby Bend 165San Marcos: 212 mg/LSan Marcos 212Shady Hollow 63mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+TX 112Austin: 68 mg/LAustin 68Bee Cave: 110 mg/LBee Cave 110Kyle: 113 mg/LKyle 113Buda: 136 mg/LBuda 136Belterra: 143 mg/LBelterra 143Dripping Springs: 148 mg/LDripping S. 14863 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 63 mg/L, Shady Hollow is 49 mg/L below the typical Texas figure of 112. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has softer water. The range nearby runs from 68 mg/L in Austin to 212 in San Marcos.

What 63 mg/L means at home

You may see faint white spots on glasses and shower doors after the water dries.

Scale builds up slowly. A kettle or coffee maker needs descaling now and then, maybe every few months.

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

Optional. Plenty of households at this level live with it and descale the kettle now and then.

Water softener

Worth a look if spots on glass bother you, or if your tankless water heater manual asks for softer water.

Carbon filter

Improves taste and removes chlorine. It leaves calcium and magnesium in place.

Softener size for Shady Hollow

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 3.7 gpg = 826 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 29 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Shady Hollow's water system

Shady Hollow MUD · PWSID TX2270229

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 4,269 people from surface water.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
0
Open now
0

EPA lists Shady Hollow MUD as the system serving Shady Hollow. The hardness figure above comes from a different system's report, which TapWaterData uses for Shady Hollow.

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 Shady Hollow water hard?

Somewhat. It measures about 63 mg/L (3.7 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as moderately hard.

What is the water hardness in Shady Hollow in grains per gallon?

About 3.7 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 63 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 3.7.

What size water softener do I need in Shady Hollow?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 3.7 gpg works out to about 826 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 29 days.

Has the Shady Hollow water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Shady Hollow MUD since 2016.

Nearby cities

All 342 cities in Texas

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, October 15, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.