Water Testing Indianapolis
We test your water at the tap in Indianapolis so you know your actual hardness and dissolved-solids numbers before you spend anything on equipment. The Citizens system average is 19 grains per gallon, but it ranges from 8.7 to 27 across the service area. Buying equipment against an average instead of your number is how homes end up with the wrong size unit.
Why your number is not the city average
Indianapolis is served by ten treatment plants drawing from both surface water (the West Fork of the White River, Fall Creek, and four reservoirs) and groundwater wells. Which plant feeds your address changes what comes out of your tap.
That is why Citizens publishes a range alongside the average and tells customers to ask for the figure specific to their address. A 2025 system average of 19 grains per gallon is a useful benchmark and a poor sizing input.
Hardness is reported two ways and they are easy to confuse. Grains per gallon is the softener-industry unit; milligrams per litre (ppm) is what the utility reports. One grain per gallon equals 17.118 mg/L, which is how 317 ppm becomes roughly 19 gpg.
The range that matters
Ranges 8.7–27grains per gallon Citizens Energy Group 2025 reported range across the Indianapolis and Morgan County system (148–460 ppm). The system average is 19 gpg; your address sits somewhere in this band.
What a test tells you
- Your hardness in grains per gallon, the number a softener is actually programmed to.
- Total dissolved solids, which is what RO addresses.
- Whether your symptoms point to hardness, to disinfection byproducts, or to something else entirely.
How hardness is classified
The USGS scale: 0–60 mg/L soft, 61–120 moderately hard, 121–180 hard, and above 180 very hard.
Can I just use my utility’s published number?
It is a good starting point and a poor sizing input. Citizens publishes a system average of 19 gpg and a range of 8.7 to 27, and directs customers to ask for their address-specific figure at (317) 924-3311. For programming a softener, you want the number at your tap.
What is the difference between grains per gallon and ppm?
They measure the same thing in different units. Utilities report hardness in milligrams per litre, which is the same as parts per million. The softener industry uses grains per gallon. One gpg equals 17.118 mg/L, so the Citizens 2025 average of 317 ppm works out to about 19 gpg.
Do you test well water?
Private wells are not covered by the utility reports at all, so testing is the only way to know what you have. Wells more often bring iron, manganese, and bacteria questions into play alongside hardness, which changes what equipment makes sense.
Thanks, we have got it.
Thanks, we have your details. We will reach out to talk through your water and schedule a visit. If you would rather talk now, call or text us at (765) 703-5012.
Start with your actual numbers
Book a test and we will measure hardness and TDS at your tap, then tell you plainly what, if anything, you need.
Call (765) 703-5012