Hard water in Morgantown, WV
Reported by Morgantown Utility Board · September 2025
- WV typical
- 106 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Tap water in Morgantown has about 123 mg/L of hardness, which is 7.2 grains per gallon. On the USGS scale that counts as hard. The number comes from Morgantown Utility Board, dated September 2025.
Morgantown sits 17 mg/L above the typical West Virginia figure of 106. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 7 have softer water and 3 have harder. The range nearby runs from 55 mg/L in Fairmont to 387 in Martinsburg.
What 123 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 123 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 × 7.2 gpg = 1,616 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 14 days.
EPA record for Morgantown's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 66,851 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 Morgantown water hard?
Yes. It measures about 123 mg/L (7.2 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Morgantown in grains per gallon?
About 7.2 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 123 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 7.2.
What size water softener do I need in Morgantown?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 7.2 gpg works out to about 1,616 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 14 days.
Has the Morgantown water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Morgantown Utility Board since 2016. There were also 1 monitoring or reporting violation, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Brookhaven91 mg/LModerately hard
- Cheat Lake91 mg/LModerately hard
- Fairmont55 mg/LSoft
- Bridgeport122 mg/LHard
- Clarksburg104 mg/LModerately hard
- New Martinsville228 mg/LVery hard
- Wheeling106 mg/LModerately hard
- Parkersburg114 mg/LModerately hard
- Martinsburg387 mg/LVery hard
- Charles158 mg/LHard
All 14 cities in West Virginia
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, September 2, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.