Water softener sizing for Scottsdale, AZ
Scottsdale Water, the City of Scottsdale's water utility, publishes hardness for three parts of the city. All three are very hard, at 13 to 17 grains per gallon.
Scottsdale water hardness by area
Figures published by Scottsdale Water (City of Scottsdale). The dial setting is the number to enter on your softener.
| City or area | How hard | Range (grains per gallon) | Softener dial setting | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottsdale, south of Indian School Rd | Very hard | 13 to 15 | 14 | Scottsdale Water (City of Scottsdale), annual water quality report, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Scottsdale, Indian School to Chaparral Rd | Very hard | 13 to 17 | 15 | Scottsdale Water (City of Scottsdale), annual water quality report, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Scottsdale, north of Chaparral Rd | Very hard | 13 to 17 | 15 | Scottsdale Water (City of Scottsdale), annual water quality report, 2026 (2025 data) |
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 7 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.
South Scottsdale's water is very hard, at the low end of the city's range. Source: Scottsdale Water (City of Scottsdale), annual water quality report, 2026 (2025 data).
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
Which zone are you in?
Scottsdale Water splits the city by two cross streets. Find your home relative to Indian School Road and Chaparral Road, then use the matching row in the table above.
Where Scottsdale’s water comes from
Before the 1980s Scottsdale relied entirely on groundwater. Today, Scottsdale Water says, more than 90 percent of its supply is renewable surface water and recycled water. In 2025, 71 percent came from the Colorado River through the Central Arizona Project canal and 13 percent from the Salt and Verde rivers through the Salt River Project, with groundwater from 21 city wells and recycled water making up the rest.
What this means for your home
At 13 to 17 grains per gallon, Scottsdale water is close to Mesa’s (about 12 in the City Zone and 16 in the Eastern and Southern Zones). A household of three needs the same size softener in most of Scottsdale as in most of Mesa, so check your old dial setting rather than assuming the highest number.
Common questions
- How hard is Scottsdale water?
- Scottsdale Water's annual water quality report, published in 2026 with 2025 data, gives approximate hardness of 13 to 15 grains per gallon south of Indian School Road, and 13 to 17 both between Indian School and Chaparral Roads and north of Chaparral Road. That is very hard on the U.S. Geological Survey scale.
- What should I set my softener to in Scottsdale?
- We size with the middle of each zone's range, rounded up: 14 south of Indian School Road and 15 in the other two zones. A home test gives a more exact number, and you can enter it in the calculator.
- Has Scottsdale's water got softer?
- Scottsdale Water's newest figures are lower than those in its older hardness fact sheet, which gave up to 25 grains per gallon in the south of the city. The city now gets most of its water from the Colorado River and much less from wells than it once did. If your softener was set years ago, it may be set higher than it needs to be.