Hard water in Fond du Lac, WI
Reported by Ashwood Grove / Edgewater · August 2022
- WI typical
- 170 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Tap water in Fond du Lac has about 170 mg/L of hardness, which is 9.9 grains per gallon. On the USGS scale that counts as hard. The number comes from Ashwood Grove / Edgewater, dated August 2022.
At 170 mg/L, Fond du Lac is close to the typical Wisconsin figure of 170 mg/L. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 4 have softer water and 6 have harder. The range nearby runs from 67 mg/L in Neenah to 485 in Slinger.
What 170 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 170 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 × 9.9 gpg = 2,236 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 10 days.
EPA record for Fond du Lac's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 1,046 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 Fond du Lac water hard?
Yes. It measures about 170 mg/L (9.9 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Fond du Lac in grains per gallon?
About 9.9 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 170 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 9.9.
What size water softener do I need in Fond du Lac?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 9.9 gpg works out to about 2,236 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 10 days.
Has the Fond du Lac water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Ashwood Grove Edgewater since 2016.
Nearby cities
- Oshkosh145 mg/LHard
- Mayville324 mg/LVery hard
- Ripon385 mg/LVery hard
- Neenah67 mg/LModerately hard
- West Bend340 mg/LVery hard
- Berlin204 mg/LVery hard
- Menasha166 mg/LHard
- Hartford426 mg/LVery hard
- Fox Crossing166 mg/LHard
- Slinger485 mg/LVery hard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, August 17, 2022), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.