Oklahoma

Water Quality in the State of Oklahoma

Oklahoma is located in the south-central region of the United States; featuring beautiful hills, lakes, forests and the Great Plains. In Oklahoma, you can find areas that have a classic western look – with red dirt and buffalo roaming the plains, and areas which are more refined – with museums, art galleries, and scenic gardens.

Oklahoma water supply comes from groundwater and surface water. Most of the groundwater in Oklahoma is used for crop irrigation and is also the common source of water for the western half of the state. The majority of the surface water in Oklahoma is used for public consumption.

Fun fact: The state's largest groundwater basin, The Ogallala Aquifer, contains 90 million acre-feet of water, enough to cover the entire state two feet deep!

Water Hardness by City

Oklahoma water is considered hard. The average water hardness for the Oklahoma resident is around 146 PPM. The highest hard water number comes from Lawton at 161 PPM, the city with the softest water is Stillwater with 123 PPM. Oklahoma City water is 154 PPM and is considered hard according to the USGS water hardness page.

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

City	Water Hardness Data
Oklahoma City 73102 | 73103 | 73104 | 73105 | 73106 | 73107 | 73108 | 73109 | 73110 | 73111 | 73112 | 73114 | 73115 | 73116 | 73117 | 73118 | 73119 | 73120 | 73121 | 73122 | 73127 | 73128 | 73129 | 73130 |73131 | 73132 | 73134 | 73135 | 73139 | 73141 | 73142 | 73145 | 73149 | 73150 | 73151 | 73159 | 73160 | 73162 | 73165 | 73169 | 73170 | 73173 | 73179	154 PPM (mg/L) or 9 gpg
Tulsa 74103 | 74104 | 74105 | 74106 | 74107 | 74108 | 74110 | 74112 | 74114 | 74115 | 74116 | 74117 | 74119 | 74120 | 74126 | 74127 | 74128 | 74129 | 74130 | 74131 |74132 | 74133 | 74134 | 74135 | 74136 | 74137 | 74145 | 74146	140 PPM (mg/L) or 8 gpg
Norman 73019 | 73026 | 73069 | 73071 | 73072	152 PPM (mg/L) or 9 gpg
Lawton 73501 | 73505 | 73507	161 PPM (mg/L) or 10 gpg
Stillwater 74074 | 74075 | 74078	123 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg

 

PPM = Parts Per Million

mg/L = Milligrams Per Liter

gpg = Grains Per Gallon

Oil, Gas and Water Hardness

Oil and gas production has played a major role in the economic history and development of Oklahoma. In 2019 Oklahoma was the fourth-largest crude oil producer, and it accounted for nearly 5% of the nation's crude oil production.

The oil and gas industry uses water in all parts of the operation and that water is often locally sourced from groundwater, rivers or lakes (both natural and artificial). As Oklahoma has hard water, oil and gas producers are often fighting to keep their operations running and their equipment scale-free.

Solutions to your Water Quality Problems

Fixing your water quality issues in the state of Oklahoma 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 most Oklahoma 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.