Minnesota
Water Quality in the State of Minnesota
Minnesota, the “bread and butter state”, is best known for its numerous lakes, forests and extravagant fairs. The state’s main industries are agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, mining and bioscience. Minnesota residents get their drinking water from a variety of sources. 75% of all Minnesotans get their water from wells that pull water from underground aquifers. Residents in more populated areas such as Minneapolis, St. Paul and St. Cloud rely mainly on the Mississippi River for their water source. Duluth residents receive their water from Lake Superior.
Water Hardness by City
When rain falls, it gathers in lakes and aquifers. Rock formations in these bodies of water begin to slowly melt and enrich the water with dissolved minerals. The greater the number of dissolved minerals in the water, the harder it is. Minnesota water is considered hard to very hard depending on the location with an average state range of 192 PPM.
The hardest water in the state hails from Minnetonka city, their water comes from the Jordan Aquifer and provides a water hardness level of 310 PPM. For reference, water is considered hard between 120-180 PPM. 180 and above is very hard and is the source of many headaches for businesses/homeowners like in Rochester with 323 PPM and Windom with 240 PPM. While most Minnesota cities have hard water, there are a few cities with moderately soft water. Minneapolis water is considered moderately soft, at 65 Parts Per Million. This is because Minneapolis has a water-softening plant that softens the water provided by the Mississippi River before it is dispersed to Minneapolis residents.
For more information on the water hardness in specific cities, please see the table below.
| City and Zip Codes | Water Hardness Data |
|---|---|
Andover 55304 | 165 PPM (mg/L) or 10 gpg |
Anoka 55303 | 255 PPM (mg/L) or 15 gpg |
Becker 55308 | 55309 | 340 PPM (mg/L) or 20 gpg |
Bemidji 56601 | 287 PPM (mg/L) or 17 gpg |
Big Falls 56101 | 190 PPM (mg/L) or 11 gpg |
Big Lake 55309 | 311 PPM (mg/L) or 18 gpg |
Brainerd 56401 | 244 PPM (mg/L) or 14 gpg |
Buffalo 55313 | 357 PPM (mg/L) or 21 gpg |
Burnsville 55337 | 310 PPM (mg/L) or 18 gpg |
Chaska 55318 | 296 PPM (mg/L) or 17 gpg |
Circle Pines 55104 | 365 PPM (mg/L) or 21 gpg |
Cloquet 55720 | 322 PPM (mg/L) or 19 gpg |
Cottage Grove 55016 | 301 PPM (mg/L) or 18 gpg |
Detroit Lakes 56501 | 377 PPM (mg/L) or 22 gpg |
Duluth 55802 | 55803 | 55804 | 55805 | 55806 | 55807 | 55808 | 55810 | 55811 | 55812 | 55814 | 45 PPM (mg/L) or 3 gpg |
East Grand Forks 56721 | 327 PPM (mg/L) or 19 gpg |
Eden Praire 55344 | 55347 | 55329 | 90 PPM (mg/L) or 5 gpg |
Elk River 55330 | 129 PPM (mg/L) or 8 gpg |
Excelsior 55331 | 301 PPM (mg/L) or 18 gpg |
Fairbault 55021 | 165 PPM (mg/L) or 10 gpg |
Farmington 55024 | 196 PPM (mg/L) or 11 gpg |
Fergus Falls 56537 | 226 PPM (mg/L) or 13 gpg |
Forest Lake 55025 | 222 PPM (mg/L) or 13 gpg |
Grand Rapids 55744 | 98 PPM (mg/L) or 6 gpg |
Hastings 55033 | 278 PPM (mg/L) or 16 gpg |
Hopkins 55305 | 55343 | 352 PPM (mg/L) or 21 gpg |
Inver Grove Heights 55076 | 55077 | 278 PPM (mg/L) or 17 gpg |
Istani 55040 | 283 PPM (mg/L) or 17 gpg |
Lakeville 55044 | 308 PPM (mg/L) or 18 gpg |
Little Falls 56345 | 196 PPM (mg/L) or 11 gpg |
Manikato 56001 | 56003 | 339 PPM (mg/L) or 20 gpg |
Maple Grove 55311 | 453 PPM (mg/L) or 26 gpg |
Minnetonka 55345 | 310 PPM (mg/L) or 18 gpg |
55401 | 55402 | 55403 | 55404 | 55405 | 55406 | 55407 | 55408 | 55409 | 55410 | 55411 | 55412 | 55413 | 55414 | 55415 | 55416 | 55417 | 55418 | 55419 | 55420 | 55421 | 55422 | 55423 | 55424 | 55425 | 55426 | 55427 | 55428 | 55429 | 55430 | 55431 | 55432 | 55433 | 55434 | 55435 | 55436 | 55437 | 55438 | 55439 | 55441 | 55442 | 55443 | 55444 | 55445 | 55446 | 55447 | 55448 | 55449 | 55450 | 55454 | 65 PPM (mg/L) or 4 gpg |
Moorehead 56560 | 233 PPM (mg/L) or 14 gpg |
Northfield 55057 | 189 PPM (mg/L) or 11 gpg |
Osseo 55369 | 210 PPM (mg/L) or 12 gpg |
Owatoona 55060 | 241 PPM (mg/L) or 14 gpg |
Prior Lake 55372 | 317 PPM (mg/L) or 19 gpg |
Red Wing 55066 | 315 PPM (mg/L) or 19 gpg |
Rochester 55901 |55902 | 55904 | 55905 | 55906 | 323 PPM (mg/L) or 19 gpg |
Rosemount 55068 | 278 PPM (mg/L) or 16 gpg |
Saint Cloud 56301 | 56303 | 56304 | 135 PPM (mg/L) or 8 gpg |
Saint Paul 55101 | 55102 | 55103 | 55104 | 55105 | 55106 | 55107 | 55108 | 55109 | 55110 | 55111 | 55112 | 55113 | 55114 | 55115 | 55116 | 55117 | 55118 | 55119 | 55120 | 55121 | 55122 | 55123 | 55124 | 55125 | 55126 | 55127 | 55128 | 55129 | 55130 | 55155 | 175 PPM (mg/L) or 10 gpg |
Savage 55378 | 314 PPM (mg/L) or 19 gpg |
Shakopee 55379 | 333 PPM (mg/L) or 20 gpg |
Stillwater 55082 | 245 PPM (mg/L) or 14 gpg |
Windom 56101 | 240 PPM (mg/L) or 14 gpg |
Willmar 56201 | 269 PPM (mg/L) or 15 gpg |
Winona 55987 | 220 PPM (mg/L) or 13 gpg |
Worthington 56187 | 314 PPM (mg/L) or 19 gpg |
Zimmerman 55398 | 322 PPM (mg/L) or 19 gpg |
 | |
PPM = Parts Per Million
mg/L = Milligrams Per Liter
gpg = Grains Per Gallon
Farming, Food Processing and Hard Water
Minnesota is the United States’ largest producer of sugar beets, wild rice and green peas, The state is also a leading producer of hogs, corn, soybeans and wheat. Minnesota is home to some of the country’s biggest food processing companies, which makes food processing the second most important industry for the state.
As a great deal of Minnesota has water rich in calcium (the primary source of water hardness), many farms and food process plants experience issues related to scale buildup in their irrigators, production and processing equipment. In addition, contaminants polluting soil and waterways have increased greatly over the past few decades. There is a greater need for waste and chemical control. Many farmers are looking for eco-friendly solutions that can provide quality crop protection at a cheaper cost.
Solutions to your Water Quality Problems
Fixing your water quality issues in the state of Minnesota will depend on your specific water source. It is best to test your potable water supply in order to get a better understanding of your water quality. Testing is relatively cheap. The test results will allow you to understand if your potable water has issues that need to be addressed. Common solutions to water contamination problems may include a water filtration system, a reverse osmosis system or other whole home water treatment solutions.
A problem that almost all Minnesota residents will have to deal with is hard water. One old-fashioned, inefficient, expensive and unhealthy method to treat hard water is with a salt-based water softener. Most people don’t realize that if you’re using a water softener you are basically removing calcium and magnesium from your drinking water and adding salt to your diet. In addition, many states are banning the use of salt-based water softeners.
Alternative water treatment solutions such as “water conditioners” have been gaining popularity in recent years because they are cheap to operate and the best eco-friendly solution for hard water. Hydropath technology, which powers the HydroFLOW water conditioners is by far the most efficient and cost-effective eco-friendly solution to deal with hard water problems. To learn more about how HydroFLOW solves the problems created by hard water, please check out our technology page. You might want to read this blog that explains the difference between water conditioners and water softeners: Water Conditioner vs. Water Softener Blog.
For more information, please contact HydroFLOW Midwest
