Wichita, KS water hardness
City of Wichita Water Utilities publishes a hardness of 170 mg/L for its system, in its City of Wichita Water Quality Report 2025, reporting for year 2024. On the USGS scale that is hard water.
The published figure, exactly as it appears
This is the hardness line transcribed from the source, with nothing added:
Hardness, Total (as calcium carbonate) 5/21/2024 170 170 ppm 400
City of Wichita Water Utilities, City of Wichita Water Quality Report 2025, reporting for year 2024
Units as published: ppm. What kind of figure it is: a single value. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
Wichita 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.
| Figure | mg/L (ppm) | Grains per gallon | Whose number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Published average | 170 | 9.9 | mg/L published, gpg is our conversion |
| Plotted on the scale above | 170 | 9.9 | published 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: 170 ÷ 17.1 = 9.9 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
| Utility | City of Wichita Water Utilities |
|---|---|
| Service area as published | The City of Wichita's water system. The report does not break hardness down by plant or area. |
Provenance of every number on this page
| Source document | City of Wichita Water Quality Report 2025, reporting for year 2024 |
|---|---|
| Source URL | https://www.wichita.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/12521 |
| Published by | City of Wichita Water Utilities |
| Report year | 2024 |
| Year note | The report is titled “Water Quality Report 2025” and reports for year 2024. The hardness row carries a sample date of 5/21/2024. |
| Retrieved | 2026-10-17 |
| Classification bands | USGS Water Science School, retrieved 2026-10-16 |
Notes the report forces on this page
- The row reports a sample taken on 5/21/2024 with the highest value and both ends of the range given as 170 ppm, so there is no spread to show.
- The trailing 400 in the row sits in a column whose heading did not render legibly to us. It is not reproduced as a hardness result anywhere on this site.
- The report publishes no grains-per-gallon figure; every grains figure on this page is our conversion at 17.1 mg/L per grain.
If you are sizing a softener for Wichita water
At 9.9 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 Wichita sits against other verified systems
- Portland, OR 9 mg/L 0.5 gpg Soft
- Boston, MA 16 mg/L 1 gpg Soft
- Manchester, NH 17.9 mg/L 1 gpg Soft
- Raleigh, NC 25 mg/L 1.47 gpg Soft
- New York, NY 32 mg/L 2 gpg Soft
- Charlotte, NC 32 mg/L 1.9 gpg Soft
- Memphis, TN 46 mg/L 2.7 gpg Soft
- Anchorage, AK 56 mg/L 3.3 gpg Soft
- Oakland, CA 68.4 mg/L 4 gpg Moderately hard
- Nashville, TN 77.3 mg/L 4.5 gpg Moderately hard
- Sacramento, CA 83 mg/L 4.9 gpg Moderately hard
- Fresno, CA 89.3 mg/L 5.2 gpg Moderately hard
- Saint Paul, MN 90 mg/L 5 gpg Moderately hard
- Austin, TX 93 mg/L 5.4 gpg Moderately hard
- Washington, DC 95 mg/L 5.6 gpg Moderately hard
- Birmingham, AL 98 mg/L 5.7 gpg Moderately hard
- Kansas City, MO 100 mg/L 5.8 gpg Moderately hard
- Denver, CO 105 mg/L 6.1 gpg Moderately hard
- Tulsa, OK 114.5 mg/L 6.7 gpg Moderately hard
- Louisville, KY 115 mg/L 6.7 gpg Moderately hard
- Columbus, OH 120 mg/L 7 gpg Moderately hard
- Cleveland, OH 120 mg/L 7 gpg Moderately hard
- Philadelphia, PA 125 mg/L 7.3 gpg Hard
- Ann Arbor, MI 126 mg/L 7.4 gpg Hard
- Cincinnati, OH 133 mg/L 7.8 gpg Hard
- Milwaukee, WI 137 mg/L 8.01 gpg Hard
- St. Louis, MO 138 mg/L 8.1 gpg Hard
- Fort Worth, TX 145 mg/L 8.5 gpg Hard
- Honolulu, HI 162.5 mg/L 9.5 gpg Hard
- Wichita, KS 170 mg/L 9.9 gpg Hard
- Omaha, NE 170 mg/L 10 gpg Hard
- Los Angeles, CA 192 mg/L 11.2 gpg Very hard
- Lincoln, NE 192 mg/L 11.2 gpg Very hard
- Tampa, FL 220 mg/L 12.9 gpg Very hard
- Phoenix, AZ 237 mg/L 13.9 gpg Very hard
- Mesa, AZ 239.4 mg/L 14 gpg Very hard
- San Diego, CA 276 mg/L 16 gpg Very hard
- Las Vegas, NV 280 mg/L 16 gpg Very hard
- Chandler, AZ 282.2 mg/L 16.5 gpg Very hard
- San Antonio, TX 299.3 mg/L 17.5 gpg Very hard
- Anaheim, CA 300 mg/L 18 gpg Very hard
- Indianapolis, IN 317 mg/L 19 gpg Very hard
- Madison, WI 324.9 mg/L 19 gpg Very hard
- Scottsdale, AZ 352.5 mg/L 20.6 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.
Systems with similar published hardness
- Omaha, NE Metropolitan Utilities District, 170 mg/L (9.9 gpg)
- Honolulu, HI Honolulu Board of Water Supply, 162.5 mg/L (9.5 gpg)
- Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, 192 mg/L (11.2 gpg)
- Lincoln, NE Lincoln Water System, 192 mg/L (11.2 gpg)
All 44 verified systems How to find hardness in your own utility's report If you are on a well instead