San Diego, California
Water softeners in San Diego, installed by a local pro.
Spots on the shower glass and crust on the taps? City of San Diego water averages about 16 grains per gallon. Tell us about your home and an independent local water treatment pro can contact you about a test and a quote.
- Free to ask
- No obligation to hire
- Hardness from the city’s own figure
- One short form
Tell us about your water
- About 16 gpgTypical hardness of City of San Diego drinking water, 16 to 18 by area and demandCity of San Diego Public Utilities
- 276 mg/LThe same figure in milligrams per liter: over 180 is very hard on the USGS scaleUSGS Water Science School
- NSF/ANSI 44The standard for home softeners that use an ion exchange resinNSF International
- By July 1The city issues its Drinking Water Quality Report for the year beforeCity of San Diego
What a local pro can do
Softeners, filters and treatment for San Diego homes
Hard water is a softener job. Taste, odor or a specific contaminant is a filter or treatment job. Each service below has its own page with what the work involves and what to ask.
How it works
From the form to soft water
Four steps, and you decide at each one. Asking costs nothing and you never have to hire anyone.
- 01Send the formYour name, a phone number, your ZIP code and what you need. It takes a minute, and it is free.
- 02A local pro can contact youThe site’s operator passes your request to an independent water treatment pro who works in San Diego, who can contact you to talk it through.
- 03Ask for a test at your tapA hardness test with water from your own tap shows what you are treating. Ask for the result in grains per gallon and keep it.
- 04Compare the quote and decideAsk what the system is certified to, where it will go and what upkeep it needs. If you go ahead, ask the pro to show you the salt, the valve and the settings.
Around San Diego
City water, neighborhood by neighborhood
The hardness figure on this site is the City of San Diego’s own, for homes on City of San Diego Public Utilities water. Nearby cities are served by other water providers, so check your bill and your provider’s yearly report.
- La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Point LomaCity of San Diego neighborhoods along the coast
- North Park, Clairemont, Kearny MesaCentral city neighborhoods
- Mira Mesa, Rancho BernardoCity neighborhoods to the north
- Chula VistaIts own water provider and report
- La Mesa and El CajonEast County cities with their own providers
- PowayA separate city inland, with its own water provider
Hard water
Why San Diego water leaves spots
The City of San Diego says its drinking water typically averages about 16 grains per gallon, or 276 parts per million, and that it can range from 16 to 18 grains per gallon (272 to 284 ppm) depending on water demand and the area of the city where you live. One part per million is the same as one milligram per liter, and one grain per gallon is about 17 mg/L, which is why both numbers describe the same water.
The US Geological Survey grades hardness on a simple scale: 0 to 60 mg/L is soft, 61 to 120 is moderately hard, 121 to 180 is hard, and more than 180 is very hard. At about 276 mg/L, city water sits well inside the very hard band. That is why the softener question comes up in San Diego homes: the minerals are in the water before it reaches your meter.
Hardness is calcium and magnesium. USGS notes that in hard water, soap reacts with the calcium to form soap scum, so more soap or detergent is needed to get things clean. Water utilities commonly add that hard water deposits build up on dishes, fixtures and basins and can cause scale on pipes. In a San Diego home that shows up in a few familiar places:
- White spots on glasses and shower doors after the water dries
- Crust around faucet aerators and shower heads
- Soap and shampoo that do not lather well
- Scale on fixtures and in sinks and basins
Hard water is a nuisance, not a health problem. Water utilities commonly put it plainly: hard water does not pose a health risk, and there is no health-based drinking water standard for it. A softener is a choice about scale, soap and cleaning. Read more in the guide to San Diego hard water.
How it works
What a water softener does, and what it does not
A salt-based softener sends your water through a tank of resin beads. The resin holds on to calcium and magnesium and lets sodium go in their place: this is ion exchange. When the resin is full, the softener regenerates, rinsing the beads with salty water from the brine tank beside it and sending the rinse water to a drain. The standard that covers these home softeners is NSF/ANSI 44: residential softeners that use a cation exchange resin regenerated with sodium or potassium chloride.
Two plain facts follow from how it works. First, a softener adds a little sodium to the water as it removes the hardness, as water utilities commonly point out. If you are on a sodium-restricted diet, ask your doctor, and ask the installer about potassium chloride. Second, a softener does not filter drinking water. Taste, odor and contaminants are a job for a filter or a reverse osmosis system.
Water utilities also commonly note that some softening systems can raise the corrosivity of the water, which can damage the anode in a water heater. That is a good question to put to any installer: how the system is set up, and what to check on the water heater over time.
Sizing
How a softener is sized for a San Diego home
Sizing starts with two numbers: your hardness in grains per gallon and the water your household uses each day. Multiply them and you have the grains the softener must take out each day. That figure, and how often you want it to regenerate, sets the size of the resin tank. Because city water runs 16 to 18 grains per gallon depending on the area, a test at your own tap beats a guess.
| Your home | What the pro looks at |
|---|---|
| One or two people | Daily use, so the tank is not oversized for the water you run |
| Three to five people | Daily use and how often the softener will regenerate |
| A large home with many baths | Peak flow as well as daily use, so pressure holds with several taps open |
| Replacing an old unit | Whether the old loop, drain and outlet can be reused |
Ask any installer to write down the hardness they measured, the daily use they assumed and the capacity they chose. With those three lines you can compare two quotes fairly. The water softener installation page goes through the job step by step.
Permits
The city’s permit for a softener install
The City of San Diego’s Development Services Department lists water softener installations among the minor installations that can get a Simple “No-Plan” Plumbing/Gas Permit. That permit is for properties that are not historically designated. A home that is historically designated, or a job that goes beyond the minor installation, needs a different path, so ask the installer which permit your home needs and who pulls it.
Outside the city limits
Chula Vista, La Mesa, El Cajon and Poway are separate cities with their own permit rules. Check the rule with that city before the work starts.
Drinking water
Adding filtration or reverse osmosis
A softener for the whole house can be paired with a separate system for drinking water. A point-of-use reverse osmosis system connects to a single fixture, such as under the kitchen sink, and EPA says RO can potentially remove contaminants such as lead, PFAS and arsenic. Look for one certified to NSF/ANSI 58. Note the water it uses: EPA says a typical point-of-use RO system sends five gallons or more down the drain for every gallon it treats, while WaterSense labeled units send 2.3 gallons or less.
If the concern is chlorine taste and odor at every tap, a whole house water filter on the main line is the other route. The standards to ask about are NSF/ANSI 42 for aesthetic effects such as chlorine, taste and odor, and NSF/ANSI 53 for health effects such as lead. The water filtration page compares the options, and the water treatment page covers salt-free conditioners and combined systems.
Salt or salt-free?
- Salt softenerRemoves calcium and magnesium in a resin tank by ion exchange, adding sodium in their place, and regenerates with salt from a brine tank. The standard for these is NSF/ANSI 44.
- Salt-free conditionerA different technology from ion exchange. Ask the installer what it is certified for before you choose it.
A water test at your tap shows what you are treating. An independent local pro can contact you about a test and a quote.
Questions
What San Diego homeowners ask
Short answers, from the city’s own figures and published standards. More on the questions page.
Is San Diego water hard or soft?
Hard. The City of San Diego puts its typical figure at about 16 grains per gallon (276 ppm), ranging from 16 to 18 by area and demand. Over 180 mg/L is very hard on the USGS scale.
Is a water softener worth it in San Diego?
It depends on how much the scale, spots and soap use bother you. A softener removes the hardness that causes them. Hard water is not a health risk, so it is a choice about cleaning and fixtures, not safety.
Do I need a plumber or a permit to install a softener?
The city lists softener installs among the minor jobs that can use a Simple No-Plan plumbing permit, for properties that are not historically designated. Ask the installer which permit applies and who pulls it.
Salt or salt-free?
A salt softener removes calcium and magnesium by ion exchange and is covered by NSF/ANSI 44. A salt-free conditioner is a different technology: ask the installer what it is certified for before you choose it.
Will a softener make my water salty?
A salt softener adds some sodium as it removes the hardness. On a sodium-restricted diet, ask your doctor, and ask the installer about potassium chloride.
Does a softener filter drinking water?
No. It removes hardness. For drinking water, you can add reverse osmosis at the kitchen tap, certified to NSF/ANSI 58.
What does a softener cost in San Diego?
This site prints no prices. The quote depends on the size the pro picks for your hardness and household, whether an old unit and loop can be reused, and any filter or RO added.
Who runs this site?
Water Softener San Diego is an independent referral service, not an installer, plumber or equipment seller. When you send the form, your details are passed to an independent local water treatment pro, who can contact you and prepare a quote.
Softer water in San Diego, from a local pro.
Tell us about your water. An independent local water treatment pro can contact you about a test and a quote. Free to ask.