Hard water in St. George, UT
Reported by ST George City Water System · June 2025
- UT typical
- 231 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
St. George water measures 138 mg/L (8.1 gpg) of hardness, hard by USGS standards. The number comes from ST George City Water System, dated June 2025.
At 138 mg/L, St. George is 93 mg/L below the typical Utah figure of 231. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 1 has softer water and 9 have harder. The range nearby runs from 96 mg/L in Saratoga Springs to 260 in Washington.
What 138 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 138 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 × 8.1 gpg = 1,816 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 13 days.
EPA record for St. George's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 105,240 people from surface water.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 10
- Open now
- 0
EPA lists this system as serving St. George.
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 St. George water hard?
Yes. It measures about 138 mg/L (8.1 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in St. George in grains per gallon?
About 8.1 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 138 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 8.1.
What size water softener do I need in St. George?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 8.1 gpg works out to about 1,816 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 13 days.
Has the St. George water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for ST George City Water System since 2016. There were also 10 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Washington260 mg/LVery hard
- Ivins174 mg/LHard
- Hurricane260 mg/LVery hard
- Cedar City224 mg/LVery hard
- Payson256 mg/LVery hard
- Spanish Fork256 mg/LVery hard
- Springville256 mg/LVery hard
- Eagle Mountain256 mg/LVery hard
- Provo256 mg/LVery hard
- Saratoga Springs96 mg/LModerately hard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, June 30, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.