Virginia

Water Quality in the State of Virginia

Virginia is located between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains and is one of the 13 original colonies in the American Revolution. Virginia water supply comes from groundwater, rivers, lakes, reservoirs and bays. Most cities drinking water sources in Virginia are from surface water, such as the Chickahominy River that supplies water to the city of Newport News.  


Water Hardness by City

Virginia water hardness is considered moderately hard according to USGS water hardness measures, with an average water hardness of 72 PPM. Some examples of cities with soft water are and Norfolk with a hardness level of 47 PPM and Chesapeake with 41 PPM. The highest hard water number comes from Roanoke at 143 PPM.

For more information on the water hardness in specific cities, please see the table below.

CityWater Hardness Data

Virginia Beach

23464 | 23462 | 23454 | 23452 | 23456 | 23455 | 23451 | 23453 | 23457 | 23460 | 23459 | 23461

58 PPM (mg/L) or 3 gpg

Arlington

120 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg

Norfolk

23503 | 23513 | 23518 | 23505 | 23504 | 23508 | 23502 | 23511 | 23509 | 23510 | 23523 | 23507 | 23517 | 23551

47 PPM (mg/L) or 3 gpg

Chesapeake

23322 | 23320 | 23323 | 23321 | 23324 | 23325

41 PPM (mg/L) or 2 gpg

Newport News

23608 | 23602 | 23606 | 23601 | 23607 | 23605 | 23603

81 PPM (mg/L) or 5 gpg

Fairfax

22030 | 22033 | 22031 | 22032 | 22035

127 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg

Richmond

23223 | 23234 | 23225 | 23224 | 23220 | 23235 | 23222 | 23227 | 23236 | 23237 | 23226 | 23221 | 23230 | 23219 | 23173 | 23250

64 PPM (mg/L) or 4 gpg

Roanoke

24018 | 24012 | 24019 | 24017 | 24014 | 24015 | 24013 | 24016 | 24020 | 24011

143 PPM (mg/L) or 8 gpg

Lynchburg

24502 | 24501 | 24503 | 24504

48 PPM (mg/L) or 3 gpg

Blacksburg

24060

55 PPM (mg/L) or 3  gpg

Winchester

22602 | 22601 | 22603

79 PPM (mg/L) or 5 gpg

Harrisonburg

22801 | 22802 | 22807

60 PPM (mg/L) or 4 gpg

Danville

14540 | 14541

72 PPM (mg/L) or 4 gpg
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PPM = Parts Per Million

mg/L = Milligrams Per Liter

gpg = Grains Per Gallon

Farming, Food Processing and Water Hardness

Virginia's top producing industry is agriculture and food processing, and it is the most diverse in the nation. Virginia top agricultural products are Chicken for meat production and eggs, cattle, soybeans, leaf tobacco and dairy products. Chickens bred for meat production, are Virginia's top-grossing agricultural product. They accounted for $935 million of the approximately $70 billion that agriculture contributed to the state's economy last year.

As a great deal of Virginia has water rich in calcium (the primary source of water hardness), many farms and food processing plants experience issues related to scale buildup in their processing equipment, due to large quantities of water flow every day. 

In addition, contaminants polluting soil and waterways have increased greatly over the past few decades and there is a greater need for waste and chemical control. Many farmers are looking for eco-friendly solutions that can increase the quality and yield of their crops while saving water. Read more about how HydroFLOW can increase crop yield.

Solutions to your Water Quality Problems

Fixing your water quality issues in the state of Virginia 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 some Virginia 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.