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Utilities / California

Riverside, CA water hardness

Riverside Public Utilities publishes an average hardness of 197 mg/L (12 grains per gallon, also its own figure) for its system, in its Riverside Public Utilities 2025 Water Quality Report. On the USGS scale that is very hard water, though the utility's own range crosses more than one class — it spans hard and very hard water from end to end.

Soft Moderate Hard Very hard 0 60 120 180 500+ 197 mg/L Riverside, CA sits in the very hard band mg/L as CaCO₃. Bands drawn equal width, so the axis is not linear.
Riverside Public Utilities published an average of 197 mg/L, with a published range of 180 to 210 mg/L shown as the bar. The plotted point is the published average. Classification bands from the USGS Water Science School.

The published figure, exactly as it appears

This is the hardness line transcribed from the source, with nothing added:

Hardness (CaCO3) NS 197 mg/L (12 grains per gallon) 180 - 210 mg/L Naturally present in environment

Riverside Public Utilities, Riverside Public Utilities 2025 Water Quality Report

Units as published: mg/L, with grains per gallon given beside the average. What kind of figure it is: an average with a range. Retrieved 2026-10-26.

Riverside hardness in mg/L and grains per gallon

Water-quality reports use mg/L (identical to ppm). Softener instructions and plumbing specifications use grains per gallon. Both are below. Where a figure is our arithmetic rather than the utility's own number, it says so.

Figuremg/L (ppm)Grains per gallonWhose number
Published average19712both published by the utility
Low end of published range18010.5mg/L published, gpg is our conversion
High end of published range21012.3mg/L published, gpg is our conversion
Plotted on the scale above19711.5published average; the gpg here is our conversion at 17.1, so it can differ slightly from a utility’s own rounded gpg figure

The conversion, both ways: gpg = mg/L ÷ 17.1 and mg/L = gpg × 17.1. Worked for this system: 197 ÷ 17.1 = 11.5 gpg. The converter does °dH and °f as well, and why the factor is 17.1 explains where the number comes from.

What this figure does not tell you

Service area and source water

UtilityRiverside Public Utilities
Service area as publishedThe Riverside Public Utilities water system. The report states that unless noted, data are from samples collected in the distribution system or at the entry point to the system.
Source waterGroundwater from the Bunker Hill and Riverside Basins, per the report.

Provenance of every number on this page

Source documentRiverside Public Utilities 2025 Water Quality Report
Source URLhttps://riversideca.gov/utilities/sites/riversideca.gov.utilities/files/pdf/water-quality/2025%20Water%20Quality%20Report.pdf
Published byRiverside Public Utilities
Report year2025
Year noteThe report provides data from sampling conducted in calendar year 2025.
Retrieved2026-10-26
Classification bandsUSGS Water Science School, retrieved 2026-10-16

Notes the report forces on this page

If you are sizing a softener for Riverside water

At 12 gpg, the sizing arithmetic starts from your household's water use, not from the hardness alone. The calculator below is pre-filled with this system's figure and every other input is an editable assumption.

Whether a softener is worth installing at this hardness is a judgement, not arithmetic, and it is not one this site makes for you. Nothing here has been tested by the author.

Where Riverside sits against other verified systems

Soft Soft 0–60
Moderately hard Moderate 61–120
Hard Hard 121–180
Very hard Very hard 181+
  1. Portland, OR 9 mg/L 0.5 gpg Soft
  2. Boston, MA 16 mg/L 1 gpg Soft
  3. Manchester, NH 17.9 mg/L 1 gpg Soft
  4. Seattle, WA 19.1 mg/L 1.1 gpg Soft
  5. Raleigh, NC 25 mg/L 1.47 gpg Soft
  6. New York, NY 32 mg/L 2 gpg Soft
  7. Charlotte, NC 32 mg/L 1.9 gpg Soft
  8. Memphis, TN 46 mg/L 2.7 gpg Soft
  9. Norfolk, VA 48 mg/L 2.8 gpg Soft
  10. Anchorage, AK 56 mg/L 3.3 gpg Soft
  11. Virginia Beach, VA 56 mg/L 3.3 gpg Soft
  12. Oakland, CA 68.4 mg/L 4 gpg Moderately hard
  13. Nashville, TN 77.3 mg/L 4.5 gpg Moderately hard
  14. Sacramento, CA 83 mg/L 4.9 gpg Moderately hard
  15. Fresno, CA 89.3 mg/L 5.2 gpg Moderately hard
  16. Saint Paul, MN 90 mg/L 5 gpg Moderately hard
  17. Austin, TX 93 mg/L 5.4 gpg Moderately hard
  18. Minneapolis, MN 94 mg/L 5.5 gpg Moderately hard
  19. Washington, DC 95 mg/L 5.6 gpg Moderately hard
  20. Baltimore, MD 97.5 mg/L 5.7 gpg Moderately hard
  21. Birmingham, AL 98 mg/L 5.7 gpg Moderately hard
  22. Kansas City, MO 100 mg/L 5.8 gpg Moderately hard
  23. Denver, CO 105 mg/L 6.1 gpg Moderately hard
  24. Detroit, MI 107 mg/L 6.3 gpg Moderately hard
  25. Aurora, CO 113 mg/L 6.6 gpg Moderately hard
  26. Tulsa, OK 114.5 mg/L 6.7 gpg Moderately hard
  27. Louisville, KY 115 mg/L 6.7 gpg Moderately hard
  28. Columbus, OH 120 mg/L 7 gpg Moderately hard
  29. Cleveland, OH 120 mg/L 7 gpg Moderately hard
  30. Philadelphia, PA 125 mg/L 7.3 gpg Hard
  31. Ann Arbor, MI 126 mg/L 7.4 gpg Hard
  32. Cincinnati, OH 133 mg/L 7.8 gpg Hard
  33. Chicago, IL 134.5 mg/L 7.9 gpg Hard
  34. Houston, TX 135.5 mg/L 7.9 gpg Hard
  35. Milwaukee, WI 137 mg/L 8.01 gpg Hard
  36. St. Louis, MO 138 mg/L 8.1 gpg Hard
  37. Grand Rapids, MI 142 mg/L 8.3 gpg Hard
  38. Fort Worth, TX 145 mg/L 8.5 gpg Hard
  39. Spokane, WA 159 mg/L 9.3 gpg Hard
  40. Honolulu, HI 162.5 mg/L 9.5 gpg Hard
  41. Wichita, KS 170 mg/L 9.9 gpg Hard
  42. Omaha, NE 170 mg/L 10 gpg Hard
  43. Los Angeles, CA 192 mg/L 11.2 gpg Very hard
  44. Lincoln, NE 192 mg/L 11.2 gpg Very hard
  45. Riverside, CA 197 mg/L 12 gpg Very hard
  46. Tampa, FL 220 mg/L 12.9 gpg Very hard
  47. Phoenix, AZ 237 mg/L 13.9 gpg Very hard
  48. Mesa, AZ 239.4 mg/L 14 gpg Very hard
  49. Round Rock, TX 258 mg/L 15.1 gpg Very hard
  50. Pflugerville, TX 267 mg/L 15.6 gpg Very hard
  51. San Diego, CA 276 mg/L 16 gpg Very hard
  52. Las Vegas, NV 280 mg/L 16 gpg Very hard
  53. Chandler, AZ 282.2 mg/L 16.5 gpg Very hard
  54. San Antonio, TX 299.3 mg/L 17.5 gpg Very hard
  55. Anaheim, CA 300 mg/L 18 gpg Very hard
  56. Henderson, NV 304 mg/L 18 gpg Very hard
  57. Indianapolis, IN 317 mg/L 19 gpg Very hard
  58. Madison, WI 324.9 mg/L 19 gpg Very hard
  59. Scottsdale, AZ 352.5 mg/L 20.6 gpg Very hard
  60. Salt Lake City, UT 353.5 mg/L 20.7 gpg Very hard

mg/L as calcium carbonate. Each classification band is drawn the same width, so the axis is not linear in mg/L.

Riverside, CA is the highlighted row. Every other system on this chart has its own page with its own published figure and report date. Grains per gallon are the utility's own figure where it published one, and our conversion at 17.1 mg/L per grain where it did not.

Systems with similar published hardness

All 60 verified systems   How to find hardness in your own utility's report   If you are on a well instead