Hard water in Bridgewater, VA
Reported by Bridgewater, Town of · May 2023
- VA typical
- 65 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Bridgewater water measures 175 mg/L (10.2 gpg) of hardness, hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Bridgewater, Town of, dated May 2023. Reports for this system disagree, with values from 175 to 204 mg/L.
At 175 mg/L, Bridgewater is 110 mg/L above the typical Virginia figure of 65. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has harder water. The range nearby runs from 22 mg/L in Lake Monticello to 131 in Staunton.
What 175 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 175 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 × 10.2 gpg = 2,302 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 10 days.
EPA record for Bridgewater's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 6,177 people from surface water.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 24
- 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 Bridgewater water hard?
Yes. It measures about 175 mg/L (10.2 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Bridgewater in grains per gallon?
About 10.2 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 175 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 10.2.
What size water softener do I need in Bridgewater?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 10.2 gpg works out to about 2,302 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 10 days.
Has the Bridgewater water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Bridgewater, Town of since 2016. There were also 24 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Harrisonburg80 mg/LModerately hard
- Staunton131 mg/LHard
- Fishersville55 mg/LSoft
- Waynesboro84 mg/LModerately hard
- Stuarts Draft55 mg/LSoft
- University of Virginia37 mg/LSoft
- Charlottesville37 mg/LSoft
- Lake Monticello22 mg/LSoft
- Buena Vista46 mg/LSoft
- Culpeper110 mg/LModerately hard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, May 7, 2023), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.