People ask us what the hardness is in Albuquerque as though there is one answer. There is not, and that is not us being evasive — it is what the Water Authority itself publishes.
What ABCWUA actually says
“Depending on the sources and blend, the hardness will range from moderately hard to hard.”
And alongside it: “This site contains information regarding the hardness in your water distribution zone.” Not the city. Your zone.
Why it works that way
Since December 2008 the Water Authority has blended treated surface water from the San Juan-Chama project with groundwater drawn from both sides of the river, and served that mix across the system. The proportions are not identical everywhere, so the water is not identical everywhere.
That is why two houses twenty minutes apart can genuinely be carrying different water, and why a number you read on a national “water hardness lookup” site is close to meaningless for your address.
What we will not do
We will not quote you a city average, because it describes nobody’s house. We checked three third-party lookups on the same day and got three different figures for Albuquerque. They cannot all be right, and none of them is your tap.
What we do instead
We test the water at your kitchen sink and you watch the result come up. Then we size the system to that, not to an average. It takes a few minutes and it is the only honest way to answer the question.