Augusta Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Augusta, Georgia, the Richmond County seat on the Savannah River — the home of the Masters Tournament (Augusta National Golf Club, hosting golf's most prestigious tournament since 1934), a major Georgia medical and educational hub (Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University), a significant US Army community (Fort Gordon — home of the US Army Cyber Command), and a historic Georgia river city at the Fall Line — draws its municipal water supply from the Savannah River (J. Strom Thurmond Lake) via the Augusta Utilities Department. Water hardness in Augusta measures 105 mg/L — classified as moderately hard.

Augusta's moderate hardness — harder than Savannah (68 mg/L) on the same Savannah River — reflects the Augusta upstream location's Piedmont supply characteristics. The Savannah River above J. Strom Thurmond Lake drains the South Carolina–Georgia Piedmont — the Proterozoic–Paleozoic calcareous-poor crystalline terrain of the Georgia–South Carolina Piedmont Province (Blue Ridge gneiss and schist — calcium-poor). However, the Augusta area lies at the Fall Line (Piedmont–Coastal Plain transition), where the watershed includes some calcareous Cretaceous Coastal Plain recharge. The Augusta Utilities distribution infrastructure (including older Augusta urban mains) accumulates moderate mineral content, producing the moderate 105 mg/L.

At 105 mg/L, Augusta residents encounter moderate scale accumulation. Faucet aerators and showerheads develop deposits after several months — monthly cleaning with citric acid solution is practical maintenance. Augusta Utilities Department consistently delivers water meeting all Georgia EPD and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.