How hard is Queen Creek water?

The Town of Queen Creek says its water contains 6 to 17 grains per gallon of hardness. The town's annual water quality report doesn't list a hardness figure.

Where does Queen Creek's water come from?

From recovered surface water and groundwater, pumped from 29 active wells across the town's distribution system.

What should I set my softener to in Queen Creek?

Your own test result, rounded up. Without one, 12 is the middle of the town's range; raise it if scale keeps coming back.

Queen Creek water hardness and choosing a softener

Queen Creek's water comes from 29 wells and recovered surface water. The town gives one wide hardness range rather than an average, so your own water could sit anywhere in it.

Queen Creek water hardness by area

Figures published by Town of Queen Creek Water Services. The dial setting is the number to enter on your softener.

City or area	How hard	Range (grains per gallon)	Softener dial setting	Source
Queen Creek	Very hard	6 to 17	12	Town of Queen Creek Water Services, water quality questions and answers, undated web page

1. Where do you live?

2. How many people live in your home?

Tested your water? Enter your result (optional)the number your kit shows, in grains per gallon

Your water is

Very hardAbout 130 lb of minerals flow into your home each year

Softener size to buy

24,000-grain

the size number on the box

Salt it will use

About 8

40 lb bags a year

Set the hardness dial to

recharges about every 9 days

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 9 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.

Queen Creek gives a wide range; we use the middle, and a home test gives a better number. Source: Town of Queen Creek Water Services, 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

Water authority

Town of Queen Creek Water Services

About the authority

The Town of Queen Creek's water division, which runs the town's wells and water distribution system. A public agency; no company supplied or paid for this figure.

Type of source

Water quality questions-and-answers page published by the utility for its own customers.

Data year

undated web page

Last checked

16 October 2026, against the original document

What the figure is

What was measured

Hardness (dissolved calcium and magnesium), in grains per gallon: 6 to 17 grains per gallon (103 to 291 mg/L)

Area covered

The whole Queen Creek water system

How it was sampled

One range for the town, from its questions-and-answers page. The town's annual report gives no hardness figure.

Where the water comes from

Recovered surface water and groundwater, pumped from 29 active drinking water wells across the distribution system.

How we use it

Figure we use

Middle of the published range (11.5 grains per gallon).

Unit conversion

1 grain per gallon = 17.1 milligrams per litre (mg/L), the same as parts per million (ppm)

How we calculate

Daily hardness to remove = people × 75 gallons × grains per gallon. We pick the smallest standard size that lasts about 7 days between recharges, at 3,300 grains removed per pound of salt.

Limits

The town's figure comes from an undated web page and isn't in its annual water quality report. A home test result overrides it.

A range, not an average

The town’s figure, 6 to 17 grains per gallon, comes from its water questions page. It doesn’t say where in town each end of the range applies, and the town’s annual report has no hardness line. That makes Queen Creek a city where a home test kit is the best first step.

Wells across town

Queen Creek’s water is pumped from 29 active wells located throughout the distribution system, along with recovered surface water.

Sizing at each end of the range

Your test reads	Three people	Four people	Five people
About 6	24,000 grains	24,000 grains	24,000 grains
About 11.5 (middle)	24,000 grains	32,000 grains	32,000 grains
About 17	32,000 grains	40,000 grains	48,000 grains

Neighbors for comparison

Gilbert’s 2025 average was 10.79 and Mesa’s Eastern and Southern Zones about 16, both nearby. Queen Creek’s range spans both.

Common questions

How hard is Queen Creek water?: The Town of Queen Creek says its water contains 6 to 17 grains per gallon of hardness. The town's annual water quality report doesn't list a hardness figure.
Where does Queen Creek's water come from?: From recovered surface water and groundwater, pumped from 29 active wells across the town's distribution system.
What should I set my softener to in Queen Creek?: Your own test result, rounded up. Without one, 12 is the middle of the town's range; raise it if scale keeps coming back.