Chandler water hardness and the softener it calls for
The City of Chandler gives one citywide range and an average. The average is among the highest of the Valley cities we cover, so a correctly sized softener matters here.
Chandler water hardness by area
Figures published by City of Chandler. The dial setting is the number to enter on your softener.
| City or area | How hard | Range (grains per gallon) | Softener dial setting | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chandler | Very hard | 5 to 20, average 16.5 | 17 | City of Chandler, water quality questions and answers, undated web page |
1. Where do you live?
2. How many people live in your home?
What the dial setting means
Every softener has a control valve on top with a setting for your water's hardness, usually labelled "hardness" or "grains". Enter this number there. It tells the softener how hard your water is, so it knows when it is full.
"Recharging" (some manuals say "regenerating") is the softener cleaning itself: it rinses its resin beads with salty water to flush out the minerals they have caught. With this setting it happens on its own, about every 8 days in your home, usually at night.
Set the number too low and hard water slips through before the next recharge. Set it too high and the softener recharges early, wasting salt and water.
Chandler's figure is a citywide average; your street can differ. Source: City of Chandler, water quality questions and answers, undated web page.
We don't make, sell or install water softeners or filters, and no company pays to be listed or ranked.
How this figure was measured
Who published it
What the figure is
How we use it
Where Chandler’s water comes from
According to the City of Chandler, about 60 percent of its water comes from the city’s surface water treatment plant, which draws Salt and Verde river water from the Consolidated Canal. Another 20 percent comes from a treatment plant shared with the Town of Gilbert, and the rest is pumped from 32 city groundwater wells.
An average, not a promise
Chandler publishes one range for the whole city, 5 to 20 grains per gallon, and an average of 16.5. We size with the average. Because the range is so wide, a home test kit is more useful in Chandler than in cities that publish a single zone figure: if your test reads 12, your softener can be smaller and use less salt; if it reads 20, it needs to be bigger.
Sizing a softener for a Chandler home
At 16.5 grains per gallon the calculator gives a 32,000-grain softener for three people and a 40,000-grain one for four, each recharging about every 8 days. A five-person household moves up to 48,000 grains and roughly 17 bags of salt a year. Chandler water softener installers should be working from a similar figure; if a quote is far bigger, ask why.
How Chandler compares
Chandler’s average is above Phoenix’s published range midpoint (about 13.8) and Mesa’s City Zone (about 12), and close to Mesa’s Eastern and Southern Zones (about 16).
Common questions
- Does Chandler have hard water?
- Yes. The City of Chandler gives a range of 5 to 20 grains per gallon with an average of 16.5, which is very hard on the U.S. Geological Survey scale.
- Why does Chandler's hardness range so widely?
- Chandler blends several supplies: about 60 percent from its surface water treatment plant, about 20 percent from a plant it shares with the Town of Gilbert, and the rest from 32 city wells. The city publishes one range covering all of them rather than figures by area.
- Should I test my water in Chandler?
- It is worth it here. With a citywide range of 5 to 20, your street could be well above or below the average. Enter your result in the calculator and it replaces the city figure.