Lexington, Kentucky
Kentucky American Water Central and Northern Division 2025 CCR. Three plants. Hardness printed as 161 / 149 / 153 ppm (ranges 60–340, 74–320, 85–244). Chloramines 2.82 ppm (range 0.75–4.15). No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up.
- Hardness (Kentucky River Station)161 ppm / 9 gpg (range 60–340)
- Hardness (Richmond Road)149 ppm / 9 gpg (range 74–320)
- Hardness (Kentucky River Station II)153 ppm / 9 gpg (range 85–244)
- Chloramines2.82 ppm (range 0.75–4.15)
- TTHMs51 ppb highest LRAA (range 16.1–77)
- HAA545 ppb highest LRAA (range 2.2–47.1)
Best match for Lexington
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 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
- Kentucky American Water
- Hardness
- Total hardness as CaCO3, 2025, water leaving the plants — Kentucky River Station 161 ppm (range 60–340) / 9 gpg (4–20). Richmond Road Station 149 ppm (74–320) / 9 gpg (4–19). Kentucky River Station II 153 ppm (85–244) / 9 gpg (5–14). Three labeled columns, not a blend we invented. — Kentucky American Water 2025 Annual Water Quality Report (Central and Northern Division)
- Disinfectant
- Chloramines 2.82 ppm highest RAA (range 0.75–4.15), MRDL 4. A separate chlorine row prints 2.82 ppm (range 0.76–3.69). Narrative says chloramines are the approved residual. Both rows are printed. — Kentucky American Water 2025 Annual Water Quality Report (Central and Northern Division)
- Brine / salt to the sewer
- No district prohibition found in current research. Searched Kentucky American Water and Lexington-Fayette 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
Lexington-area drinking water is treated at Kentucky River Station, Richmond Road Station, and Kentucky River Station II and delivered by Kentucky American Water. No Kentucky American Water or Lexington-Fayette 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 additional-parameters table prints total hardness as three labeled plant columns — 161 / 149 / 153 ppm as CaCO3 (also 9 / 9 / 9 grains per gallon). Ranges are 60–340, 74–320, and 85–244 ppm. We do not invent a systemwide blend.
Chloramines 2.82 ppm highest RAA (range 0.75–4.15). TTHMs 51 ppb highest LRAA (range 16.1–77). HAA5 45 ppb (range 2.2–47.1). Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.
Sources
- 2025 Annual Water Quality Report (Central and Northern Division) — Kentucky American Water. Accessed 2026-09-09.
Updated September 9, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.