Ann Arbor, Michigan
City of Ann Arbor 2024 Water Quality Report. Hardness as CaCO3 135 ppm (90–216), also 7.9 gpg (5.3–12.6). Chloramines 2.5 ppm (0.4–3.4). No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up.
- Hardness135 ppm (90–216)
- Chloramines2.5 ppm (0.4–3.4)
- HAA512 ppb (ND–32.9)
Best match for Ann Arbor
Salt-based water softener
No district prohibition on a brine drain turned up in the current file.
A salt-based softener is the thing that actually removes hardness. Size it from your grains and how much water you use, not bathroom count. It needs a drain.
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Other options that still fit
Salt-free conditioner
A salt-free conditioner changes how scale sticks. It does not soften. Soap and spots stay closer to untreated. No brine line.
Whole-house catalytic carbon for chloramine
Catalytic carbon with a chloramine claim (NSF/ANSI 42 for chloramine). Regular chlorine carbon is the wrong box.
Under-sink reverse osmosis
The under-sink RO we actually run is Cloud RO — NSF/ANSI 58, kitchen tap, not a whole-house tank. Check the exact listing if PFAS is why you are shopping. Shop Amazon first for under-sink RO, or buy Cloud direct. Waterdrop is a tankless option if you want that path. A certifier-listed pitcher is the cheap first step. Nobody is paying for a medical claim.
Shop under-sink reverse osmosisBuy Cloud RO directShop Waterdrop reverse osmosisShop PFAS-listed pitchers
Test the tap first
A homeowner kit is a start. It is not a state-certified lab. Use a certified lab when the decision is expensive.
On the report
- Water utility
- City of Ann Arbor Water Treatment Services
- Hardness
- Hardness (CaCO3) 135 ppm (range 90–216). Hardness (CaCO3) 7.9 gpg (range 5.3–12.6). Same 2024 report, both printed. — City of Ann Arbor 2024 Water Quality Report
- Disinfectant
- Chloramines 2.5 ppm (range 0.4–3.4), MRDL 4. Narrative: ozone, ultraviolet light, and monochloramine. — City of Ann Arbor 2024 Water Quality Report
- Brine / salt to the sewer
- No district prohibition found in current research. Searched city water and sewer pages for a residential self-regenerating softener or brine-drain ban like LACSD Measure S. None turned up. Ask the sewer agency on the bill before you cut a brine drain.
Also around here
Extra context besides the utility report and the chart above — geology, an unregulated table, or a published study. Not a second set of printed tap numbers.
- MicroplasticsWHO’s 2019 review examined studies that found microplastic particles in treated tap and bottled water in many places. That is a published-occurrence finding, not a number from this city’s water-quality report, and we do not invent a particles-per-liter count for the tap.Microplastics in drinking-water — World Health Organization
- PFASEPA’s Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule required community systems this size to test 29 PFAS and lithium in 2023–2025. Open the UCMR 5 Data Finder for this PWS. This file does not invent a detection.Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ann Arbor drinking water on this file is City of Ann Arbor Water Treatment Services. Searched city water and sewer pages for a residential self-regenerating softener or brine-drain ban like LACSD Measure S. None turned up. Ask the sewer agency on the bill before you cut a brine drain. This is not a legal opinion.
The 2024 report prints hardness as CaCO3 135 ppm (90–216) and 7.9 gpg (5.3–12.6). Chloramines 2.5 ppm (0.4–3.4). Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.
Sources
- 2024 Water Quality Report — City of Ann Arbor Water Treatment Services. Accessed 2026-09-11.
Updated September 11, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.