Delafield, WI water hardness
Delafield water hardness: two city wells and many private ones
Delafield's published hardness comes from the City of Delafield waterworks: DNR compliance samples taken on one day read 240 milligrams per liter at one city well and 400 at the other. Most Delafield residents are not on that system, so for most homes the number has to come from the home's own well.
Call (262) 829-5961Mon to Fri, 7am to 5pmSource: Wisconsin DNR compliance sampling, City of Delafield waterworks; City of Delafield utilities page
The waterworks and its two wells
By the city's own account, its waterworks serves a minority of Delafield residents. It pumps from two municipal wells: one drilled 1,215 feet into the deep sandstone, the other 220 feet into the shallow aquifer. The DNR records the system as 100 percent groundwater, with no water bought from anyone else.
240 and 400, converted to grains
Dividing milligrams per liter by 17.1 gives grains per gallon: the deep well's 240 comes to 14.0 grains and the shallow well's 400 to 23.4. That is where the 14 to 23 grain range for Delafield city water comes from.
On the USGS scale, soft water ends at 60 mg/L, moderately hard runs on to 120 and hard to 180. Both city wells sit past that last mark, in the very hard band, which begins past 180, or roughly 10.5 grains.
Where the city figures stop applying
The DNR figures describe the two city wells, so they apply only to homes on the waterworks. A private well in the City or the Town of Delafield is a source of its own, and it may draw from a deep layer, a shallow one or something in between.
Even on city water the figures are two samples from one day. They show the range to expect; the reading at your tap shows where your own water sits.
Finding your own number
On the waterworks, the DNR's public drinking water records for the City of Delafield system hold these compliance samples, and the city's utilities page describes the system. On a private well, the well's own lab report gives hardness, usually in milligrams per liter, with the date of the sample.
With no report yet, the plumber's reading at the tap on installation day is the first number, taken before any work begins.
How the quote uses the figure
City customers start from the DNR's 14.0 and 23.4 grains; well owners start from their lab report's hardness line. Add the household and where the main line comes in, and the price follows on the call. Once the softener is in, your tap is retested until hardness reads zero.
Common questions
Why does one small city have two hardness numbers?
Because its two wells reach different aquifers: the deep one into sandstone at 1,215 feet, the shallow one at 220 feet. Sampled on the same day, they read 240 and 400 milligrams per liter.
My well report already gives grains. Do I still divide?
No. If it already says grains per gallon, read us that figure as it is. Only milligrams per liter or parts per million need dividing by 17.1.
More for Delafield homes
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- About Delafield Water Softener Co.
- Water softener quotes in Delafield, WI
- Delafield waterworks or a private well: which is yours?
- Your Delafield well's lab report, line by line
- What changed in Delafield's shallow city well, 2008 to 2026
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