Salem, Oregon
City of Salem 2025 Water Quality Report. Hardness is not printed. Entry-point chlorine residual average 1.31 ppm (range 0.80–2.26). No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up.
- Chlorine residual1.31 ppm (range 0.80–2.26)
- TTHMs14.7 ppb LRAA (range 5.8–29)
Best match for Salem
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
- City of Salem Public Works
- Hardness
- Not printed on the official 2025 Water Quality Report tables we opened. Unknown — no hardness bar invented. — City of Salem 2025 Water Quality Report (hardness not printed)
- Disinfectant
- Chlorine residual, 2024 table row on the 2025 report. Entry-point average 1.31 ppm (range 0.80–2.26), MRDL 4. Chlorine after ozone, not chloramine. — City of Salem 2025 Water Quality Report
- Brine / salt to the sewer
- No district prohibition found in current research. Searched City of Salem Public Works 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
- SodiumSame 2025 report, 2024 unregulated row. Sodium 8.9 ppm (range 8.5–9.3). Not a hardness substitute.8.9 ppm (range 8.5–9.3).2025 Water Quality Report — City of Salem
Salem drinking water is City of Salem — North Santiam River treated at Geren Island. No City of Salem 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 does not print a hardness row. Entry-point chlorine residual 1.31 ppm (0.80–2.26). TTHMs LRAA 14.7 ppb (5.8–29). Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.
Sources
- 2025 Water Quality Report — City of Salem. Accessed 2026-09-10.
Updated September 10, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.