Hard water, softeners and well water, explained plainly

Start with a calculator

• Water softener size calculator

  People in the house, gallons a day and your hardness in grains per gallon give you grains a day, and the softener capacity that covers about a week.

• Running cost calculator

  Salt, the water used to flush the resin, and electricity, added up per month and per year with your own local prices.

Hard water

• Signs you have hard water

  Crusty faucets, spotty glasses, soap that won't lather, and how to find out your actual hardness number.

• Softener or conditioner?

  What salt-based softeners and salt-free conditioners each do, and what a conditioner doesn't do.

• Water softeners compared

  Capacity, flow rate, certification and warranty for popular US models, side by side. Specs only, no made-up scores.

• SpringWell vs Aquasana

  Two of the bigger direct-to-consumer brands, compared on what each actually publishes.

Private well water

• Iron in well water

  Clear-water iron, red-water iron and iron bacteria, and which treatment fits which, according to extension specialists.

• Well water filter systems

  Start from your lab report, then match the filter to what it found. Published specs for common whole-house systems.

About well water and safety: nothing on this site can tell you whether your water is safe to drink. Only testing can. Use a lab certified by your state, or ask your state or local health department what to test for.

About this site

Home Water Plain is a small independent site, run from the UK and written for US homeowners. It doesn't sell water treatment and hasn't tested the products it compares. What it does is read the sources so you don't have to: the EPA, the USGS, the CDC, state health departments, university extension services and manufacturers' own spec sheets. Every guide lists its sources with dates. More about who runs it.