Omaha, NE water hardness
Metropolitan Utilities District publishes a hardness of 170 mg/L (10 grains per gallon, also its own figure) for its system, on the page cited below. 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:
We lime-soften the water to about 170 milligrams per liter, which is the same as 10 grains per gallon of hardness.
Metropolitan Utilities District
Units as published: milligrams per liter, with grains per gallon given alongside. What kind of figure it is: a single value. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
Omaha 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 | 10 | both published by the utility |
| 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 | Metropolitan Utilities District |
|---|---|
| Service area as published | The Metropolitan Utilities District's water system, serving Omaha and surrounding communities. The FAQ does not break the figure down by treatment plant. |
Provenance of every number on this page
| Source document | Metropolitan Utilities District, “Your Water” frequently asked questions |
|---|---|
| Source URL | https://www.mudomaha.com/your-water/?page=%2C30 |
| Published by | Metropolitan Utilities District |
| Report year | Not stated on the source page |
| Year note | The FAQ states no year. The figure is given as the level the district softens its water to, not as a measured annual average. |
| Retrieved | 2026-10-17 |
| Classification bands | USGS Water Science School, retrieved 2026-10-16 |
Notes the report forces on this page
- This is the level the district states it softens its water to, prefaced with “about”. It is not a measured annual average, and the FAQ publishes no sampling range.
- The district's 2025 Consumer Confidence Report does carry a “Hardness (total) as CaCO3” row, but its numbers could not be matched to that row reliably in the document as fetched on 2026-10-17, so no figure from it is published here.
- The same FAQ states that approximately 35 percent of the hardness is removed from the raw Missouri River water at the Florence Water Treatment Plant. It gives no hardness value for that plant's finished water.
- 170 divided by 17.1 is 9.9 against the district's own 10 grains per gallon, so its grains figure appears rounded to whole grains.
- Other report years checked on 2026-10-17: 2025.
If you are sizing a softener for Omaha water
At 10 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 Omaha 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
- Wichita, KS City of Wichita Water Utilities, 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