Hard water in Bristol, WI
Reported by Bristol Waterworks Village of · August 2022
- WI typical
- 170 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 32k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Bristol water measures 270 mg/L (15.8 gpg) of hardness, very hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Bristol Waterworks Village of, dated August 2022.
Bristol sits 100 mg/L above the typical Wisconsin figure of 170. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 7 have softer water and 3 have harder. The range nearby runs from 136 mg/L in Sturtevant to 313 in Union Grove.
What 270 mg/L means at home
Scale forms fast here. Kettles and coffee makers need regular descaling, and showerheads clog unless you clean them.
Tank water heaters collect mineral sediment that insulates the water from the burner, so flushing the tank matters more than usual.
Dishes and glass shower doors spot easily. Soap scum and a dull film on hair or laundry are common complaints.
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 270 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 × 15.8 gpg = 3,553 grains a day. A 32,000-grain unit regenerates about every 9 days.
EPA record for Bristol's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 598 people from groundwater.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 0
- 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 Bristol water hard?
Yes. It measures about 270 mg/L (15.8 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as very hard.
What is the water hardness in Bristol in grains per gallon?
About 15.8 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 270 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 15.8.
What size water softener do I need in Bristol?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 15.8 gpg works out to about 3,553 grains a day. A 32,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 9 days.
Has the Bristol water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Bristol Waterworks Village of since 2016.
Nearby cities
- Pleasant Prairie140 mg/LHard
- Kenosha140 mg/LHard
- Union Grove313 mg/LVery hard
- Sturtevant136 mg/LHard
- Mount Pleasant136 mg/LHard
- Burlington248 mg/LVery hard
- Racine136 mg/LHard
- Caledonia300 mg/LVery hard
- Muskego276 mg/LVery hard
- Franklin210 mg/LVery hard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, August 15, 2022), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.