Hard water in Fox Crossing, WI
Reported by Menasha Elec & Water Util · February 2024
- WI typical
- 170 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Fox Crossing water measures 166 mg/L (9.7 gpg) of hardness, hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Menasha Elec & Water Util, dated February 2024.
Fox Crossing sits close to the typical Wisconsin figure of 170 mg/L. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 7 have softer water and 2 have harder. The range nearby runs from 67 mg/L in Neenah to 279 in New London.
What 166 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 166 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 × 9.7 gpg = 2,185 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 10 days.
EPA record for Fox Crossing's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 15,144 people from surface water.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 0
- Open now
- 0
TapWaterData ties Fox Crossing to this system. EPA's service-area records do not name Fox Crossing, so check the utility printed on your water bill.
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 Fox Crossing water hard?
Yes. It measures about 166 mg/L (9.7 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Fox Crossing in grains per gallon?
About 9.7 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 166 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 9.7.
What size water softener do I need in Fox Crossing?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 9.7 gpg works out to about 2,185 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 10 days.
Has the Fox Crossing water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Menasha Elec & Water Util since 2016.
Nearby cities
- Menasha166 mg/LHard
- Neenah67 mg/LModerately hard
- Greenville152 mg/LHard
- Appleton81 mg/LModerately hard
- Kimberly73 mg/LModerately hard
- Little Chute87 mg/LModerately hard
- Oshkosh145 mg/LHard
- New London279 mg/LVery hard
- De Pere194 mg/LVery hard
- Allouez136 mg/LHard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, February 25, 2024), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.