Madison, Wisconsin
Madison Water Utility 2025 Annual Water Quality Report (2025 data). Hardness is not printed on the opened table. Chlorine residual typical 0.2–0.4 mg/L. No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up.
- Chlorine0.2–0.4 mg/L typical
Best match for Madison
Whole-house carbon for chlorine
No district prohibition on a brine drain turned up in the current file.
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.
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Other options that still fit
Confirm hardness on the current CCR before buying
Open the current CCR for grains. This file does not invent a number from a ranking site. A salt softener needs a drain if it is legal at the address.
Shop salt-based softenersShop salt-free conditionersShop water test kits
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
- Madison Water Utility
- Hardness
- Not printed on the official 2025 water-quality table we opened. Unknown — no hardness bar invented. — Madison Water Utility 2025 Annual Water Quality Report (hardness not printed)
- Disinfectant
- Narrative says Madison disinfects with chlorine and the goal is a residual above 0.1 mg/L at all points in the distribution system. Typical levels range from 0.2 to 0.4 mg/L. 2025 report. — Madison Water Utility 2025 Annual Water Quality Report
- Brine / salt to the sewer
- No district prohibition found in current research. Searched Madison Water Utility and City of Madison 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
Madison drinking water is groundwater from a deep sandstone aquifer treated by Madison Water Utility. No City of Madison 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 official 2025 water-quality table we opened does not print hardness. We do not invent a ppm or grains bar.
Chlorine residual is printed as typical 0.2–0.4 mg/L, with a goal above 0.1 mg/L. 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 — Madison Water Utility. Accessed 2026-09-09.
Updated September 9, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.