Ruston Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Ruston, Louisiana, in Lincoln Parish — the Lincoln Parish seat and home to Louisiana Tech University, a north-central Louisiana city along the I-20 corridor between Shreveport and Monroe — receives its municipal water from the Ruston Water System, which draws from the Bayou D'Arbonne watershed or connects to the North Louisiana regional water supply infrastructure. Ruston's water supply reflects the north Louisiana Coastal Plain hydrology of Lincoln Parish.

The moderately hard 165 mg/L hardness and TDS of 438.1 mg/L reflect north Louisiana's Gulf Coastal Plain geology. Lincoln Parish sits on the Cretaceous-Paleocene-Eocene Coastal Plain formations of northern Louisiana — including the Cretaceous Taylor and Navarro Group chalk and calcareous marl formations, the Paleocene Midway Group, and the Eocene Wilcox Group glauconitic sand and calcareous formations. These Coastal Plain sedimentary sequences, while not as hard as the Floridan or Mississippian carbonates, contain sufficient calcium carbonate and dissolved minerals to produce moderately hard water in the north Louisiana stream and groundwater systems. The warm, humid Louisiana climate and thick clay-rich soils accelerate mineral weathering and dissolved solid loading.

At 165 mg/L, Ruston's water is moderately hard — consistent with the north Louisiana supply profile. Scale builds in kettles and coffee machines over months, dishwashers benefit from rinse aid, and faucet aerators need periodic cleaning. Quarterly descaling of heating appliances is appropriate. The critically elevated PFAS level of 13.9 ppt is among the highest in this dataset and demands immediate attention — Barksdale Air Force Base (Shreveport area), Fort Polk (now Fort Johnson), and the multiple Louisiana military and industrial PFAS sources in the I-20 north Louisiana corridor, combined with Louisiana Tech University and the Ruston industrial park's chemical research and manufacturing activities, contribute to what is a seriously elevated PFAS profile. A certified reverse osmosis drinking water filter is strongly recommended for all drinking and cooking water.