Blue Diamond: the hardest water in our Las Vegas-area figures
Blue Diamond's water comes from two local wells, blended before delivery. It is the hardest water of any area on this site, and it changes what size of softener you need.
How hard is Blue Diamond water?
Figures published by Blue Diamond Water System (Las Vegas Valley Water District). The dial setting is the number to enter on your softener.
| City or area | How hard | Range (grains per gallon) | Softener dial setting | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Diamond (North Well data) | Extremely hard | about 24 | 24 | Blue Diamond Water System (Las Vegas Valley Water District), water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data) |
| Blue Diamond (South Well data) | Extremely hard | about 23 | 23 | Blue Diamond Water System (Las Vegas Valley Water District), water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data) |
1. Who supplies your water?
2. How many people live in your home?
What the dial setting means
This is the number to key into your softener's control head (the box on top of the tank) where it asks for water hardness, often shown as "Hardness" or "gpg". It is how the softener knows how much hardness it is taking out of each gallon.
When the resin inside is full of minerals, the softener recharges: it washes the resin with brine from the salt tank and sends the minerals down the drain. For your household that works out to about every 7 days, and it happens automatically.
Too low a number lets hard water through between recharges. Too high a number makes it recharge sooner than it needs to, using extra salt and water.
Blue Diamond's water is the hardest of any area we cover. Source: Blue Diamond Water System (Las Vegas Valley Water District), water quality summary, 2026 (2025 data).
Nobody pays to be listed or ranked here, and we don't make, sell, rent or install softeners or filters.
How this figure was measured
Who published it
What the figure is
How we use it
Two wells, blended
The Blue Diamond Water System, owned and operated by the Las Vegas Valley Water District, draws on two wells recharged by rain and snowmelt from the Wilson Cliff and Red Rock Canyon area and Mount Potosi. Water from the two is blended before it enters the pipes, and the district publishes a summary for each.
| North Well summary | South Well summary | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 408 ppm (24 gpg) | 401 ppm (23 gpg) |
| Calcium | 95 ppm | 93 ppm |
| Magnesium | 41.4 ppm | 41.0 ppm |
| Sodium | 12 ppm | 12 ppm |
| Total dissolved solids | 490 ppm | 488 ppm |
Why size matters more here
Every gallon brings half as much hardness again as valley water, so a softener runs out of capacity faster. A 40,000-grain unit sized for a Las Vegas family of four would recharge about every five days in Blue Diamond instead of every eight.
| Household | Softener | Salt a year |
|---|---|---|
| One person | 24,000 grains | about 5 bags |
| Two people | 32,000 grains | about 10 bags |
| Three people | 40,000 grains | about 15 bags |
| Four people | 64,000 grains | about 20 bags |
| Five people | 64,000 grains | about 25 bags |
Low sodium to start with
Blue Diamond water has 12 ppm of sodium, far less than valley water. Softening very hard water adds a fair amount; potassium chloride is the alternative if that matters to you.
Questions about Blue Diamond water
- How hard is Blue Diamond water?
- The Las Vegas Valley Water District's 2026 summaries for the Blue Diamond system give averages of 408 ppm (24 grains per gallon) and 401 ppm (23 grains per gallon).
- Why is Blue Diamond's water so much harder than Las Vegas water?
- It comes from two local wells recharged from the Red Rock Canyon and Mount Potosi areas, not from Lake Mead, and carries more calcium and magnesium.
- What size softener does a Blue Diamond home need?
- Bigger than in the valley. At 24 grains per gallon, three people need 40,000 grains and four people 64,000 grains to recharge about once a week.