Las Vegas water is very hard. Find the right water softener for your home.
Most Las Vegas Valley water comes from Lake Mead and carries about 16 grains of hardness per gallon. Tell us what you're doing and we'll work out the water softener size, salt and dial setting for your home.
Independent water conditioning advice. We don't sell or install anything.
Hardness figures from the published reports of 8 water providers.
Where our numbers come from
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, each U.S. community water system publishes a water quality report every year. We read what each Las Vegas Valley utility publishes and take its hardness figure as given.
Last checked 15 October 2026, each against the original document. No company supplies or pays for these figures.
1. What are you doing?
Start with the size below. It is the smallest standard size that recharges about once a week in your home.
2. Who supplies your water?
3. How many people live in your home?
What the dial setting means
This is the number to key into your softener's control head (the box on top of the tank) where it asks for water hardness, often shown as "Hardness" or "gpg". It is how the softener knows how much hardness it is taking out of each gallon.
When the resin inside is full of minerals, the softener recharges: it washes the resin with brine from the salt tank and sends the minerals down the drain. For your household that works out to about every 8 days, and it happens automatically.
Too low a number lets hard water through between recharges. Too high a number makes it recharge sooner than it needs to, using extra salt and water.
The water district publishes one figure for the whole valley; your street can differ a little. Source: Las Vegas Valley Water District, water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data).
Nobody pays to be listed or ranked here, and we don't make, sell, rent or install softeners or filters.
How this figure was measured
Who published it
What the figure is
How we use it
Las Vegas water hardness: what's in your tap water
| City or area | How hard | Range (grains per gallon) | Softener dial setting | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas Valley | Very hard | about 16 | 16 | Las Vegas Valley Water District, water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Henderson | Extremely hard | about 18 | 18 | City of Henderson Department of Utility Services, annual water quality report, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Boulder City | Extremely hard | about 17 | 17 | City of Boulder City (Water and Sewer), annual water quality report, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Mount Charleston, Echo Wells area | Very hard | about 14 | 14 | Kyle Canyon Water District, water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Mount Charleston, Rainbow View area | Very hard | about 16 | 16 | Kyle Canyon Water District, water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Laughlin | Extremely hard | about 17 | 17 | Big Bend Water District, water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Blue Diamond (North Well data) | Extremely hard | about 24 | 24 | Blue Diamond Water System (Las Vegas Valley Water District), water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Blue Diamond (South Well data) | Extremely hard | about 23 | 23 | Blue Diamond Water System (Las Vegas Valley Water District), water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Searchlight, Well S-2 | Soft | about 3 | 3 | Searchlight Water System (Las Vegas Valley Water District), water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Searchlight, Well S-3 | Moderately hard | about 6 | 6 | Searchlight Water System (Las Vegas Valley Water District), water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Searchlight, backup Well S-1 | Extremely hard | about 23 | 23 | Searchlight Water System (Las Vegas Valley Water District), water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Mesquite and Bunkerville | Very hard | 10.5 to 15.8 | 14 | Virgin Valley Water District, annual water quality report, 2025 (2025 data) |
- Southern Nevada Water Authority: The regional water authority that supplies the Las Vegas Valley. It describes the valley's water as "very hard" at 280 parts per million (16 grains per gallon), and says Lake Mead supplies about 90 percent of Southern Nevada's drinking water and groundwater about 10 percent. (checked 15 October 2026)
Why Las Vegas water is so hard
The Southern Nevada Water Authority describes the valley’s water as “very hard” at 280 parts per million. The Las Vegas Valley Water District says most of it starts as Rocky Mountain snowmelt that flows down the mineral-rich Colorado River into Lake Mead.
Because almost the whole valley drinks the same blended water, the hardness figure barely changes from one neighborhood to the next. What changes from home to home is how much water you use, and that is what decides your softener size and salt.
Do you need a water softener in Las Vegas?
Hardness is calcium and magnesium dissolved in the water. The Las Vegas Valley Water District measures 75 parts per million of calcium and 24 of magnesium, which is what leaves white scale on taps, shower glass and inside water heaters. A water softener swaps those minerals out before the water reaches your pipes. Las Vegas water softeners are sized for this hardness and for how much water your household uses, which is what the calculator above works out.
Whether it is worth it comes down to how much the scale bothers you, how long you plan to stay, and whether you are happy to keep the salt tank topped up. If you rent, ask your landlord before adding any water softening system.
Softener, conditioner, filter or reverse osmosis?
Las Vegas companies sell all of these under the banner of “water treatment” or “water conditioning”, and they do different jobs:
- Salt-based water softener. The only one of the four that takes hardness out. It is the usual answer to scale on fixtures and appliances, and the one the calculator sizes.
- Salt-free conditioner (also sold as a no-salt softener or “water refiner”). Uses no salt and no drain, but leaves the calcium and magnesium in the water. Some claim to change how scale forms; ask the seller for independent test results before you pay.
- Whole-house water filter. Usually carbon, to take out chlorine taste and smell at every tap. It does not soften. Many Las Vegas water filtration systems pair one with a softener.
- Reverse osmosis. A small unit under the kitchen sink that strips most dissolved minerals from drinking and cooking water. It works alongside a softener rather than replacing one.
Getting a water softener installed in Las Vegas
A softener goes where the main water line enters the home, before the water heater, with a drain and usually a power outlet nearby. Some houses already have a softener loop, a pair of plumbed connections ready for one; without a loop, installation means cutting into the main line, which is a plumbing job.
When you compare water softener installers or companies in the valley, ask each one:
- What size they recommend, and how they worked it out. It should start from 16 grains per gallon (or your own test) and your household size, as the calculator does.
- What hardness setting they will program, and how often the unit will recharge.
- What the written quote includes: the unit, the loop or bypass valve, the drain line, removal of an old softener, and the first bags of salt.
- How long the warranty runs on the tank, the resin and the control valve, and who honors it.
- Their Nevada contractor’s license number, if they are doing the plumbing.
Water softener maintenance, service and repair
A softener needs little looking after, but it does need some:
- Salt. Check the brine tank every few weeks and keep it about half full. The calculator shows roughly how many 40 lb bags your home will use in a year.
- Salt bridges. A hard crust can form above the water in the brine tank, so the softener stops making brine. Break it up gently with a broom handle.
- Settings. After a power cut, check the clock and the hardness setting.
- Signs it needs service or repair: scale coming back, salt not going down, water standing in the brine tank, or salty-tasting water.
Before paying for water softener repair or service in Las Vegas, check the salt and the settings first; they are the most common causes.
Las Vegas water rates
Single-family water rates per 1,000 gallons on a 30-day bill, as published by the Las Vegas Valley Water District(checked 15 October 2026). Each step up applies only to the water used in that band.
| Water used in the bill period | Price per 1,000 gallons |
|---|---|
| First 5,000 gallons | $1.61 |
| Next 5,000 gallons | $2.87 |
| Next 10,000 gallons | $4.27 |
| Over 20,000 gallons | $6.33 |
Las Vegas water softener questions
- Does Las Vegas have hard water?
- Yes, very hard. The Las Vegas Valley Water District gives total hardness of 280 parts per million, or 16 grains per gallon, in the water quality summary it published in 2026. That is very hard on the U.S. Geological Survey scale.
- Where does Las Vegas water come from?
- About 90 percent comes from Lake Mead, fed by Colorado River snowmelt, and about 10 percent from wells in the Las Vegas Valley groundwater aquifer, according to the Las Vegas Valley Water District and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
- What should I set my water softener to in Las Vegas?
- Set the hardness dial to 16 grains per gallon, the figure the Las Vegas Valley Water District publishes for the valley. In Henderson the city recommends a setting between 16 and 19 grains per gallon. If you have tested your own water, use your own result instead.
- What size water softener do I need in Las Vegas?
- It depends on how many people live in your home and how much water you use. Choose your area and household size in the calculator above: it picks the smallest standard size that recharges about once a week, and shows the salt it will use.
- Is a water softener worth it in Las Vegas?
- Valley water is very hard, so a softener makes a clear difference to scale on taps, shower glass and water-using appliances. Whether it is worth it for you depends on how long you will stay in the home, the upkeep (salt and the occasional service) and whether a salt-free conditioner or a kitchen drinking-water filter would do the job you want.