Healthy Home Headlines ranked 17 engine/data/water towns in radium, sorted by severity score. Every number below comes straight from the source data, not an estimate.
1. De Soto (Jefferson County, MO)
Severity score: 9
De Soto tap water is VERY HARD - about 21 grains per gallon, roughly three times the level where damage starts. That is the chalky film on your shower glass, the spots you can't wipe off the faucets, soap that won't lather, dry itchy skin, and dull, straw-feeling hair. The same scale silently coats your water heater's...
2. Silex (Lincoln County, MO)
Severity score: 9
Silex made the news for the wrong reason: its water failed the EPA on radium so badly the city handed out bottled water to every resident for nearly two years. Combined radium hit 7.7 pCi/L against a 5 limit, and the city's own report warns it can raise cancer risk over years of drinking. On top of that you are...
3. Flint Hill (St. Charles County, MO)
Severity score: 8
If you're in Flint Hill, you're almost certainly fighting very hard water - up to 16.7 grains. That's the chalky film on your shower glass, the soap that won't lather, the crusty scale eating your faucets and shortening the life of your water heater, plus dry, itchy skin and dull, brittle hair after every shower. The...
4. Hillsboro (Jefferson County, MO)
Severity score: 8
Hillsboro tap runs about 19 grains per gallon - rated VERY HARD. That's the chalky scale crusting your faucets and showerheads, the spots that won't wipe off your glasses, soap and shampoo that never lather, dry itchy skin and dull, brittle hair, and a water heater quietly choking on lime that dies years early. On top...
5. Innsbrook (Warren County, MO)
Severity score: 8
Your Innsbrook water is hard - about 11 grains a gallon on the public system, and 15-25+ grains if you're on a private well. That is the chalky scale crusting your faucets and showerheads, the soap that never rinses off, the film on your glasses, and the water heater that dies years early. The public supply runs...
6. O'Fallon (St. Charles County, MO)
Severity score: 8
O'Fallon's water is hard and busy. Depending on who bills you, you're looking at 6-10 grains of hardness on treated city water and up to 15-20 grains on raw county and well water - that's the chalky white scale crusting your faucets, the spots on your glasses, the soap that won't lather, and the water heater that dies...
7. Old Monroe (Lincoln County, MO)
Severity score: 8
If you live in Old Monroe, your tap is some of the hardest water in eastern Missouri - around 18 grains per gallon. That is the chalky white crust eating your faucets and showerheads, the film that leaves skin tight and itchy and hair dull and straw-like, and the scale that silently kills water heaters and appliances...
8. Pevely (Jefferson County, MO)
Severity score: 8
Pevely's tap water is groundwater pumped from local wells, and it is brutally hard - about 19 grains per gallon, roughly triple the "very hard" line. That is the white crust on your faucets and showerheads, the film that leaves your skin tight and itchy and your hair dull and straw-like, the soap that never quite...
9. Sullivan (Franklin County (straddles the Franklin/Crawford County line), MO)
Severity score: 8
Sullivan's city water comes straight out of deep dolomite wells at roughly 13 grains per gallon - hard enough that you can watch it happen: chalky white scale crusting your faucets and showerheads, spotty glassware, soap and shampoo that won't lather, and a water heater quietly choking on mineral buildup years before...
10. Warrenton (Warren County, MO)
Severity score: 8
Warrenton runs on 100% deep groundwater and the City does NOT soften it - so your tap pours out very hard 16-grain water that crusts white scale on faucets and showerheads, kills soap lather, leaves spots on dishes, makes laundry stiff, and quietly shortens the life of your water heater and appliances. That same...
11. Washington (Franklin County, MO)
Severity score: 8
Washington's city water is VERY hard - about 16 grains per gallon - so you're fighting chalky scale on faucets and shower glass, film that won't rinse off your skin and hair, and a water heater that's quietly crusting over and dying years early. Iron at 0.43 mg/L runs over the federal guideline, which is what stains...
12. Wentzville (St. Charles County, MO)
Severity score: 8
Wentzville water is genuinely hard - 11 to 17 grains a gallon, deep in the "very hard" zone. That's the chalky white crust locking up your faucets and showerheads, the soap that won't rinse off, the filmy skin and dry, brittle hair after every shower, and scale quietly coating the inside of your water heater until it...
13. Winfield (Lincoln County, MO)
Severity score: 8
Winfield's tap water is brutally hard - about 18 grains, double the "very hard" line - so you're scrubbing chalky scale off faucets and glassware, fighting dry, itchy skin and dull, filmy hair, and quietly killing your water heater 15-20% early as scale cakes the tank. It carries more dissolved minerals than the EPA's...
14. Foristell (St. Charles County, MO)
Severity score: 7
If you're on Foristell town water, you're showering in hard water that runs about 10.7 grains and a pH of 9.1 - above the recommended max - so it never quite rinses off. That's the slick, soapy film on your skin, the dull straw feel in your hair, and the chalky white scale crusting your faucets, glassware and...
15. Gerald (Franklin County, MO)
Severity score: 7
Gerald's tap is classic deep Missouri dolomite groundwater: very hard at about 17.8 grains per gallon, so you're feeling it every day - filmy skin that never rinses clean, dull flat hair, spotty dishes, and chalky scale crusting your faucets and showerheads. That mineral is also caking the inside of your water heater...
16. Moscow Mills (Lincoln County, MO)
Severity score: 7
Moscow Mills city water is hard - about 16 grains per gallon - so you are scrubbing chalky spots off your glassware, fighting soap that won't lather, and watching scale eat your water heater and fixtures from the inside out. Hard water leaves skin tight and itchy and hair dull and filmy no matter how much product you...
17. Union (Franklin County, MO)
Severity score: 7
Union's city water is 100% well water and it's very hard - about 17.5 grains per gallon (300 ppm) and alkaline at pH 8.72. That's the chalky film on your faucets and glassware, the soap that won't lather, the dingy laundry, and the scale that quietly cakes inside your water heater and shortens its life. It leaves skin...