Cincinnati, Ohio
Greater Cincinnati Water Works 2025 Water Quality Report. Miller Plant hardness 126 mg/L / 7 grains; Bolton Plant 140 mg/L / 8 grains. Total chlorine 1.17 ppm (range 1.07–1.33). No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up.
- Hardness (Miller)126 mg/L / 7 gpg
- Hardness (Bolton)140 mg/L / 8 gpg
- Total chlorine1.17 ppm (range 1.07–1.33)
- TTHMs49.6 ppb (range 15.7–76.0)
- HAA512.6 ppb (range ND–15.2)
Best match for Cincinnati
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.
Some links are affiliate links. If you buy through one, we may earn a commission. That does not change the match, and it is not a medical claim.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
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 carbon for chlorine
That is chlorine. A whole-house carbon filter with an NSF/ANSI 42 chlorine claim is the usual match. A softener will not take chlorine out.
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
- Greater Cincinnati Water Works
- Hardness
- Richard Miller Plant average hardness 126 mg per liter or 7 grains per gallon. Charles M. Bolton Plant averages 140 mg per liter or 8 grains per gallon. Two labeled plant answers on the 2025 FAQ, not a blend we invented. — Greater Cincinnati Water Works 2025 Water Quality Report
- Disinfectant
- Total chlorine 1.17 ppm (range 1.07–1.33), MRDL 4, MRDLG 4. 2025 distribution table. Printed as Total Chlorine, not a second disinfectant we invented. — Greater Cincinnati Water Works 2025 Water Quality Report
- Brine / salt to the sewer
- No district prohibition found in current research. Searched GCWW and City of Cincinnati sewer pages and codes 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
Cincinnati drinking water is treated at the Richard Miller and Charles M. Bolton plants and delivered by Greater Cincinnati Water Works. No City of Cincinnati residential softener ban like LACSD Measure S turned up. Ask the sewer agency on the bill before you cut a brine drain. This is not a legal opinion.
The 2025 report FAQ prints Miller Plant hardness 126 mg per liter / 7 grains per gallon and Bolton Plant 140 mg per liter / 8 grains per gallon. Those are two labeled plant answers. We do not invent a systemwide blend.
Total chlorine 1.17 ppm (range 1.07–1.33). TTHMs 49.6 ppb (range 15.7–76.0). HAA5 12.6 ppb (range ND–15.2). Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.
Sources
- 2025 GCWW Water Quality Report — Greater Cincinnati Water Works. Accessed 2026-09-09.
Updated September 9, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.