Well water hardness in Yellowstone County, Montana
14.6 gpg very hard
Private wells in Yellowstone County typically give very hard water: the median well sampled by the U.S. Geological Survey has 14.6 gpg (250 mg/L as CaCO₃).
Wells differ a lot, even next door: one in ten sampled wells had less than 21 mg/L and one in ten more than 848 mg/L. The figure comes from 59 wells and 63 samples taken between 1980 and 2012 (half of them by 1980).
Most samples are older than ten years. Groundwater hardness comes from the rock the well is drilled into and changes slowly, but your own well can be quite different, so treat this as a regional indication and test your water.
What this hardness means for a well household
- Severe scale: heater elements and washing-machine heaters fail early.
- Detergent use is very high; taps and screens coat within days.
- Dishwasher at maximum salt setting.
- An ion-exchange softener is practically essential; RO for drinking water.
How to test your well in Montana
Hardness is only one part of a well test. Federal health agencies advise every private well owner to test regularly:
- Test a private well every year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH; test more often if young children, older adults or a pregnant or nursing person live in the home. (US EPA, Protect Your Home's Water)
- Test at least once a year and ask the local health department which other germs or chemicals matter where you live. (CDC, Guidelines for Testing Well Water)
- Test private water supplies for nitrate and bacteria every year, with the coliform test best in a wet spring; a baseline of coliform, nitrate/nitrite and total dissolved solids fits when no specific contaminant is suspected. (Montana State University Extension, Well Educated: Testing My Well Water)
Use a certified laboratory: Montana DPHHS Water Laboratory Certification Program (certified labs by test category).
Testing is your own responsibility: no state agency samples existing private wells routinely.
What a test costs (Montana DPHHS State Environmental Laboratory (private well screens))
| Basic Screen: coliform/E. coli presence-absence, nitrate + nitrite | $55 |
| Metals Screen (WellScan): incl. hardness, arsenic | $90 |
| Anion Screen: alkalinity, fluoride, sulfate and more | $75 |
Prices as printed by the lab (2024-01); check the current fee before you send a sample. Montana DPHHS State Environmental Laboratory (private well screens)
If no local lab suits you, mail-in kits from certified labs test a wider panel at home; they cost more than a state or county lab.
Treating hard well water
At this hardness an ion-exchange softener sized for your household is the usual answer. Test iron, manganese and pH first: well water often needs an iron filter or a pH correction in front of the softener.
Nearby counties
FAQ
How hard is well water in Yellowstone County, Montana?
The median well sampled by the USGS in Yellowstone County has 14.6 gpg (250 mg/L as CaCO₃), which is very hard. One in ten wells had less than 21 mg/L and one in ten more than 848 mg/L.
Is my own well the same?
Not necessarily. Hardness depends on the rock layer your well draws from and on its depth, so neighbouring wells can differ by a factor of two or more. Only a test of your own water tells you.
How often should I test my well in Montana?
Every year for coliform bacteria, nitrate, total dissolved solids and pH (EPA and CDC advice), and after floods, repairs or a change in taste or smell. Hardness, iron and manganese once, and again before you buy a softener.
Do I need a water softener for my well?
Yes, unless you are only passing through: scale damages appliances within a few years.
Where does this figure come from?
From 63 samples of 59 wells measured by the U.S. Geological Survey between 1980 and 2012, retrieved from the Water Quality Portal. We publish a county only when at least 10 wells were sampled.
Source and method
Computed by Water Hardness Atlas from USGS National Water Information System samples (characteristic "Hardness, Ca, Mg", sites of type well, samples since 1980), retrieved 2026-10-29 through the Water Quality Portal. For each well we take the median of its samples, then the median of all wells in the county; wells above 1,000 mg/L (oil, gas or mine brines) are left out. USGS data are in the U.S. public domain. Water Quality Portal query
Well water hardness in Montana → · Montana: tap water by city →