Water Hardness in Sacramento County

Water Hardness by City

City Classification ppm or mg/L
City of Sacramento Hard 141
Folsom Soft 28.0
Fair Oaks Soft 37.4
Citrus Heights Soft 53.4
SSWD-North (near North Highlands) Moderately Hard 85.9
SSWD-South (near Arden-Arcade) Hard 123

What is Hard Water?

Hard water is water that has high mineral content which is mostly made of calcium and magnesium. The opposite hard water is soft water. One way water hardness can be measured is parts per million (ppm) or milligrams per liter (mg/L). The units ppm and mg/L are interchangeable. Water hardness is classified in the following table.

Classification ppm
Soft 0-60
Moderately hard 61-120
Hard 121-180
Very Hard > 180

Health Considerations

According to World Health Organization (WHO)1 hard water is safe to consume. There may even be health benefits because hard water can serve as a dietary supplement for calcium and magnesium.

Why is it good to filter hard water?

Filtering hard water improves the taste of water. Filtered water is great for coffee and tea brewing. How clean the water tastes becomes is based on the type of water filtering system.

Water Hardness

The water company governs the water quality and hardness for their service area. Sacramento county has multiple water districts with different water hardnesses. However, the water hardness at your home might vary even within the same water district.

The best way to get an accurate result is to buy a water hardness test kit from Home Depot or Amazon to get a better understanding of the water hardness at your water tap.

Surface Water vs Ground Water

Surface water is water located on top of land (e.g., lakes and rivers). Ground water is water present beneath surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations.

Surface water is typically softer than ground water. Ground water naturally will have more water hardness to it because of the increase in minerals (i.e., calcium and magnesium) in the rock and soil.

Folsom

Folsom gets 100 percent of its drinking water from Folsom Lake, which come from the Sierra Nevada mountains. Folsom Lake is considered a surface water source. Folsom’s excellent water quality is used by Kikkoman (soy sauce) and Gekkeikan (sake) use Folsom water for their products.

Folsom Water Treatment Process

Screened raw water from Folsom lake is treated through the Folsom Water Treatment Plant 2. In the pre-chlorination phase, a small amount of chlorine added to rid of harmful bacteria, and aluminum chlorohydrate (ACH) to stick to dirt and organic material. The water is mixed with polymer and micro-sand to create “flock”. Flocculation makes it easier to remove the dirt and organic particles from water. Next, water is passed through sedimentation and filtration which removes the large and small particles from the water. Finally, in the post-cholorination stage, small amount of chlorine is added to rid of harmful bacteria. Finally, Lime is added to prevent corrosion of water pipelines.

Pro-tip: Brita filter is an easy way to remove chlorine from the water 3.

Folsom Water Hardness

Folsom has soft water (28.0 ppm). Water Hardness in Folsom ranges from 20.0 ppm to 32.0 ppm or average of 28.0 ppm4.

San Juan Water District

San Juan Water District (SJWD) receive 100 percent of their water supply from treated surface water5.

San Juan Water District has soft water (17 ppm avg).

Citrus Heights Water District

Citrus Heights ground water ranges from 98-160 ppm and averages 134.5 ppm.5

Citrus Heights Water District (CHWD) water is a mixture of:

  • 69% surface water from San Juan Water District
  • 31% groundwater (local wells)

Citrus Heights has soft water (53.4 ppm)

Fair Oaks Water District

Fair Oaks ground water ranges from 53-94 ppm and averages 70.6 ppm.5

Fair Oaks Water District is a mixture of:

  • 62% surface water from San Juan Water District
  • 38% ground water (local wells)

Fair Oaks has soft water (37.4 ppm water hardness).

Sacramento Suburban Water District

Sacramento Suburban Water District (SSWD) has North and South service areas.

The SSWD groundwater is 75-190 ppm, averaging 123 ppm which is considered hard water.

Sacramento Suburban Water District - Service Map 📷 6

Sacramento Suburban Water District - North Area

Sacramento Suburban Water District - North Area is a mixture of:

  • 65% SSWD ground water
  • 35% SJWD surface water

Sacramento Suburban Water District - North Area water hardness is 85.9 ppm which is moderately hard water.

Sacramento Suburban Water District - South Area

Sacramento Suburban Water District - North Area is 100% SSWD ground water

Sacramento Suburban Water District - South Area water hardness is 123 ppm, which is hard water.

City of Sacramento - Department of Utilities

City of Sacramento’s water supply comes from7:

  • 80% American and Sacramento River (surface water)
  • 20% ground water wells (from Sacramento County Water Agency and Sacramento Suburban Water District)

City of Sacramento has water hardness of 141 ppm which is considered hard water.

  1. World Health Organization (WHO) ↩︎

  2. Where Does Folsom’s Drinking Water Come from - YouTube ↩︎

  3. What Does Brita Filter Out Chlorine & More Brita ↩︎

  4. Water Treatment Folsom, CA ↩︎

  5. Consumer Confidence Reports (Water Quality Reports) - San Juan Water District ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. Consumer Confidence Reports Sacramento Suburban Water District ↩︎

  7. Utilities Reports City of Sacramento ↩︎