Dover, New Hampshire
Dover city water on the opened Reporting Year 2025 Consumer Confidence Report (PWS 0651010). Total hardness as CaCO3 printed 22.0 and 78.24 ppm on 09/03/2025. Chlorine is the named disinfectant. A residual average did not print in the extracted table.
New Hampshire · Salt-softener legality
- Hardness22.0 and 78.24 ppm
- Chlorinenamed disinfectant on the 2025 report
Best match for Dover
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.
Also for the kitchen
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
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.
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.
Softener vs carbon vs under-sink RO
A sketch for Dover, tied to this file’s best match. Not a quote.
| Box | What it does | Ballpark (estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| Salt-based softenerThis file’s match | Removes hardness. Needs a drain. Illegal in some sewer districts. | About $800–$2,500 for a common residential unit (equipment). Installed jobs run higher. |
| Whole-house carbon | Chlorine or chloramine taste — match the listing. Does not soften. | About $400–$1,800 for a typical tank-and-head kit (equipment). |
| Under-sink reverse osmosisThis file’s match | Kitchen tap. Check NSF/ANSI 58 if PFAS or nitrate is why you are shopping. | About $200–$600 on Amazon search; named under-sink units vary. |
These are ballpark equipment ranges, not installed quotes and not what a dealer will write on a kitchen-table sheet. Prices move. Confirm the sewer rule before you price a brine tank.
On the report
- Water utility
- DOVER WATER DEPT
- Hardness
- 2025 CCR unregulated table: total hardness as CaCO3 22.0 ppm and 78.24 ppm (sampled 09/03/2025). Two printed values; this file does not invent a citywide blend. — Dover Water Department Consumer Confidence Report, Reporting Year 2025 (PWS 0651010)
- Disinfectant
- The opened 2025 report says the supply is disinfected with chlorine. A residual-disinfectant average did not print in the extracted table. This file does not invent one. — Dover Water Department Consumer Confidence Report, Reporting Year 2025 (PWS 0651010)
- 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
Dover drinking water on this file is DOVER WATER DEPT. 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 opened 2025 report prints total hardness as CaCO3 of 22.0 ppm and 78.24 ppm on 09/03/2025 and names chlorine as the disinfectant. It does not print a residual average in the extracted table. This file does not invent one. Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.
Questions this file can answer
How hard is Dover tap water?
2025 CCR unregulated table: total hardness as CaCO3 22.0 ppm and 78.24 ppm (sampled 09/03/2025). Two printed values; this file does not invent a citywide blend. Source on the file: Dover Water Department Consumer Confidence Report, Reporting Year 2025 (PWS 0651010).
Does Dover use chlorine or chloramine?
The opened 2025 report says the supply is disinfected with chlorine. A residual-disinfectant average did not print in the extracted table. This file does not invent one. Source on the file: Dover Water Department Consumer Confidence Report, Reporting Year 2025 (PWS 0651010).
Is a salt-based water softener legal in Dover?
No district prohibition found in the current file. 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. No district prohibition on a brine drain turned up in the current file. This is not a legal opinion.
What treatment does this Dover file match?
Best match on this file: Salt-based water softener. 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.
Sources
- Dover Water Department Consumer Confidence Report, Reporting Year 2025 (PWS 0651010) — City of Dover Water Department. Accessed 2026-09-12.
Updated September 12, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.