Arizona

Water Quality in the State of Arizona

Water quality in Arizona is governed by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Arizona has relatively hard water. With only 7 inches of annual rainfall in the Phoenix metro area, surface water cannot be solely relied on. Most of the water for public use comes from the Colorado River and groundwater sources known as aquifers. Groundwater is extracted from the Black Mesa and Navajo aquifers, using wells. Depending on the location and depth of the well, the water hardness in these aquifers can range from 200-10,000 PPM. This explains why almost every region in Arizona has very hard water. 

 

Arizona Water Hardness by City

Bullhead City has the hardest municipal water source in the state and is also the second highest recorded municipal hardness level we have located in the United States with 615 PPM. The majority of AZ cities have a hardness level of between 210-350 PPM. The most populous Arizona city, Phoenix, has a hardness level of 230 Parts Per Million (PPM). Tucson has a water hardness level of 211 PPM, and Chandler's water is 292 PPM. The city of Sierra Vista has a water hardness level of 140 PPM, while this is the lowest in the state, it is still considered hard, based on the USGS water hardness table. 

 

For more information on the water hardness in specific Arizona cities, please see the table below.

 

City and Zip Code	Water Hardness Data
Bullhead City 86429 | 86442	615 PPM (mg/L) or 36 gpg
Chandler 85225 | 85224 | 85286 | 85249 | 85226 | 85248	292 PPM (mg/L) or 17 gpg
Gilbert 85233 | 85234 | 85295 | 85296 | 85297 | 85298	215 PPM (mg/L) or 13 gpg
Glendale 85301 | 85302 | 85303 | 85304 | 85305 | 85306 | 85307 | 85308 | 85310	291 PPM (mg/L) or 17 gpg
Lake Havasu City   86403 | 86404 | 86406	323 PPM (mg/L) or 19 gpg
Mesa 85204 | 85201 | 85207 | 85205 | 85210 | 85209 | 85202 | 85203 | 85208 | 85213 | 85206 | 85212 | 85215	292 PPM (mg/L) or 17 gpg
Nogales 85621	340 PPM (mg/L) or 20 gpg
Peoria 85625 | 85345 | 85381 | 85382 | 85383	218 PPM (mg/L) or 13 gpg
Phoenix 85003 | 85004 | 85006 | 85007 | 85008 | 85009 | 85012 | 85013 | 85014 | 85015 | 85016 | 85017 | 85018 | 85019 | 85020 | 85021 | 85022 | 85023 | 85024 | 85027 | 85028 | 85029 | 85031 | 85032 | 85033 | 85034 | 85035 | 85037 | 85040 | 85041 | 85042 | 85043 | 85044 | 85045 | 85048 | 85050 | 85051 | 85053 | 85054 | 85083 | 85085 | 85086 |	225 PPM (mg/L) or 13 gpg
Scottsdale 85254 | 85255 | 85251 | 85260 | 85257 | 85258 | 85259 | 85250 | 85266 | 85262 | 85256	343 PPM (mg/L) or 20 gpg
Sierra Vista 85635 | 85650	140 PPM (mg/L) or 9 gpg
Tempe 85281 | 85282 | 85283 | 85284 | 86443	210 PPM (mg/L) or 12 gpg
Tucson 85746 | 85756 | 85711 | 85745 | 85730 | 85741 | 85712 | 85704 | 85716 | 85743 | 85742 | 85718 | 85747 | 85750 | 85737 | 85757 | 85749 | 85739 | 85748 | 85715 | 85755 | 85714 | 85735 | 85701 | 85736 | 85708 | 85707 | 85723 | 85724 | 85726 |	211 PPM (mg/L) or 12 gpg
Yuma 86438 | 85364 | 85365 | 85367	370 PPM (mg/L) or 21 gpg

 

PPM = Parts Per Million

mg/L = Milligrams Per Liter

gpg = Grains Per Gallon

 

Mining and Water Hardness

The mining of Copper has been a major industry for the state of Arizona since the 19th century. As of 2006, Arizona was listed as the top copper producer in the United States. Copper mining also produces gold, silver, lead, and molybdenum metal as a byproduct. Arizona is also the nation's second-largest producer of Molybdenum metal. Other industrial minerals used in construction, such as limestone, sand, gravel, gypsum, and clay, are found in abundance in Arizona. The water used in the mining industry is mineral-rich, with a hardness that can reach up to 10,000 PPM.

 

Solutions to your Water Quality Problems

Fixing your water quality issues in the state of Arizona will depend on your specific water source. It is best to test your potable water supply in order to get a better understanding of your water quality. Testing is relatively cheap. The test results will allow you to understand if your potable water has issues that need to be addressed. Common solutions to water contamination problems may include a water filtration system, a reverse osmosis system, or other whole home water treatment solutions.

 

A problem that almost all Arizona residents will have to deal with is hard water. One old-fashioned, inefficient, expensive, and unhealthy method to treat hard water is with a salt-based water softener. Most people don’t realize that if you’re using a water softener, you are basically removing calcium and magnesium from your drinking water and adding salt to your diet. In addition, many states are banning the use of salt-based water softeners.

 

Alternative water treatment solutions such as “water conditioners” have been gaining popularity in recent years because they are cheap to operate and the best eco-friendly solution for hard water. Hydropath technology, which powers the HydroFLOW water conditioners, is by far the most efficient and cost-effective eco-friendly solution to deal with hard water problems. To learn more about how HydroFLOW solves the problems created by hard water, please check out our technology page. You might want to read this blog that explains the difference between water conditioners and water softeners: Water Conditioner vs. Water Softener Blog.