Search for Omaha water hardness and you will find numbers from all over, and not all of them agree. The figure that counts for a home on city water is the utility’s own. This guide sets out what the Metropolitan Utilities District says, what the number means in both units, and how to use it.
Water Softener Omaha is an independent referral service, not an installer or plumber. When you send the form, your details are passed to an independent local water treatment pro, who can contact you and quote the work.
M.U.D.’s figure
In its own words, M.U.D. says: we lime-soften the water to about 170 milligrams per liter, which is the same as 10 grains per gallon of hardness, and this is soft enough to be suitable for all home uses. The water comes from the Missouri and Platte rivers and the Dakota sandstone aquifer, and M.U.D. treats it at three plants.
So the water reaching an Omaha home on M.U.D. service has already been softened once, at the plant. What is left is about 10 grains per gallon. M.U.D. also says the water will deposit small amounts of calcium carbonate in your pipes and on fixtures, and that the deposit is a tan color. That tan film is the hardness you see.
Reading the number on the USGS scale
The U.S. Geological Survey publishes general guidelines for hardness, measured as calcium carbonate:
| mg/L as calcium carbonate | USGS description |
|---|---|
| 0 to 60 | Soft |
| 61 to 120 | Moderately hard |
| 121 to 180 | Hard |
| More than 180 | Very hard |
At about 170 mg/L, M.U.D.’s water falls in the USGS hard band. M.U.D. calls the same water soft enough for all home uses. Both statements are true at once: one is a general scale, the other is the utility’s judgment about its own treated water. Whether you want it softer at home is your choice.
Grains per gallon and mg/L
Softeners are set in grains per gallon; lab reports and the USGS scale use mg/L (or parts per million). M.U.D.’s own pairing, 170 mg/L and 10 grains per gallon, gives about 17 mg/L for each grain. To turn a lab result in mg/L into grains, divide by about 17; to go the other way, multiply. When a pro sets a softener on M.U.D. water, ask what hardness figure they entered and how they got it.
What hardness is, and is not
Hardness is caused by compounds of calcium and magnesium, and by a variety of other metals, the USGS says. In hard water, soap reacts with the calcium to form soap scum, and more soap or detergent is needed to get things clean.
It is not a health measure. Utilities that publish on it say hard water does not pose a health risk and that there is no health-based drinking water standard for it. The EPA’s table of secondary standards, for taste and appearance, lists no figure for hardness either. A softener is a choice about scale, soap and spotting.
If your home is not on M.U.D. water
The 10 grains per gallon figure is for M.U.D. customers only. Towns around Omaha may be served by their own systems, and this site has not checked which utility serves each one. If your bill comes from another provider, ask it for its annual water quality report and read the hardness figure there, with the report’s year. If you are on a private well, test: the page on water testing in Omaha covers how.
Want softer water than M.U.D. delivers? Send the form and a local pro can contact you with a quote.
Using the figure
- To decide whether a softener is worth it: weigh the tan deposits you see against how much they bother you, and read water treatment in Omaha if more than hardness is involved.
- To size and set a softener: give the installer the figure and ask them to confirm it with a test of your tap. See water softener installation in Omaha.
- To check a softener you own: test the softened water and compare it with the figure. See water softener repair in Omaha.
Questions people ask
Does Omaha have hard or soft water?
M.U.D. lime-softens its water to about 170 mg/L, the same as 10 grains per gallon, and calls it soft enough for all home uses. On the USGS scale, 121 to 180 mg/L is hard.
Where does Omaha’s water come from?
M.U.D. draws from the Missouri and Platte rivers and the Dakota sandstone aquifer, and treats the water at three plants.
What is the tan film on my fixtures?
M.U.D. says its water deposits small amounts of calcium carbonate in pipes and on fixtures, and that the deposit is tan.
Is hard water bad for your health?
Water utilities commonly say hard water does not pose a health risk and has no health-based standard. For anything about your own health, ask your doctor.
