Round Rock, TX water hardness
City of Round Rock publishes an average hardness of 258 mg/L for its system, in its City of Round Rock Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (Consumer Confidence Report), 2025 data. On the USGS scale that is very hard water, though the utility's own range crosses more than one class — it spans moderately hard and very hard water from end to end.
The published figure, exactly as it appears
This is the hardness line transcribed from the source, with nothing added:
Year Constituent High Low Average Secondary Limit Units Violation […] 2025 Hardness 358 100 258 NA ppm N Naturally occurring calcium and magnesium
City of Round Rock, City of Round Rock Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (Consumer Confidence Report), 2025 data
Units as published: ppm. What kind of figure it is: an average with a range. Retrieved 2026-10-26.
Round Rock 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 | 258 | 15.1 | mg/L published, gpg is our conversion |
| Low end of published range | 100 | 5.8 | mg/L published, gpg is our conversion |
| High end of published range | 358 | 20.9 | mg/L published, gpg is our conversion |
| Plotted on the scale above | 258 | 15.1 | 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: 258 ÷ 17.1 = 15.1 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 Round Rock |
|---|---|
| Service area as published | The City of Round Rock water system. Round Rock is a separate utility from Austin Water and from the City of Pflugerville; this page does not describe their customers, and their pages do not describe Round Rock. |
| Source water | Lake Georgetown (surface water), the Edwards Aquifer (groundwater), and Lake Travis water treated by the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority (BCRUA), per the report. |
Provenance of every number on this page
| Source document | City of Round Rock Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (Consumer Confidence Report), 2025 data |
|---|---|
| Source URL | https://www.roundrocktexas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2025-Consumer-Confidence-Report_6.15.26.pdf |
| Published by | City of Round Rock |
| Report year | 2025 |
| Year note | The hardness row sits in the table “Secondary and Other Constituents Not Regulated” with its Year column reading 2025. The document's cover still prints “2019 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report”; the file is the city's 2025 Consumer Confidence Report posted in June 2026, and every data table in it is labelled 2025. |
| Retrieved | 2026-10-26 |
| Classification bands | USGS Water Science School, retrieved 2026-10-16 |
Notes the report forces on this page
- The same report gives two different averages. The table row reads 258 ppm; the report's Water Hardness paragraph says “The average water hardness in Round Rock is 249 mg/L, which contributes to what is commonly known as very hard water.” Both are reproduced as published and neither is adjusted; the plotted average is the table's 258 ppm, because the table also carries the range.
- The report does not say whether the hardness row covers Lake Travis water treated by BCRUA as well as the city's own sources; it is presented as the city's result.
- The report prints no public water system (PWS) ID, so none is shown here.
If you are sizing a softener for Round Rock water
At 15.1 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 Round Rock 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
- Seattle, WA 19.1 mg/L 1.1 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
- Norfolk, VA 48 mg/L 2.8 gpg Soft
- Anchorage, AK 56 mg/L 3.3 gpg Soft
- Virginia Beach, VA 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
- Minneapolis, MN 94 mg/L 5.5 gpg Moderately hard
- Washington, DC 95 mg/L 5.6 gpg Moderately hard
- Baltimore, MD 97.5 mg/L 5.7 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
- Detroit, MI 107 mg/L 6.3 gpg Moderately hard
- Aurora, CO 113 mg/L 6.6 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
- Chicago, IL 134.5 mg/L 7.9 gpg Hard
- Houston, TX 135.5 mg/L 7.9 gpg Hard
- Milwaukee, WI 137 mg/L 8.01 gpg Hard
- St. Louis, MO 138 mg/L 8.1 gpg Hard
- Grand Rapids, MI 142 mg/L 8.3 gpg Hard
- Fort Worth, TX 145 mg/L 8.5 gpg Hard
- Spokane, WA 159 mg/L 9.3 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
- Riverside, CA 197 mg/L 12 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
- Round Rock, TX 258 mg/L 15.1 gpg Very hard
- Pflugerville, TX 267 mg/L 15.6 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
- Henderson, NV 304 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
- 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.
Systems with similar published hardness
- Pflugerville, TX City of Pflugerville, 267 mg/L (15.6 gpg)
- San Diego, CA City of San Diego Public Utilities Department, 276 mg/L (16.1 gpg)
- Mesa, AZ City of Mesa Water Resources, 239.4 mg/L (14 gpg)
- Phoenix, AZ City of Phoenix Water Services Department, 237 mg/L (13.9 gpg)
All 60 verified systems How to find hardness in your own utility's report If you are on a well instead