Champlin Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Champlin, Minnesota, in Hennepin County on the Mississippi River north of Brooklyn Park — a northwest Minneapolis suburb positioned at the convergence of the Mississippi River main stem and the Rum River tributary mouth — receives its municipal water from the City of Champlin Water Division, drawing from the Mississippi River or the local alluvial aquifer in Champlin's river terrace landscape. The Rum River enters the Mississippi in nearby Anoka, and its substantial flow from Mille Lacs Lake influences the river quality at this reach.

The moderately soft 92.5 mg/L hardness and low TDS of 148 mg/L are notably soft for a central Minnesota river community — much softer than other Minnesota Mississippi River cities like Austin (191.5 mg/L) or Elk River (262 mg/L). Champlin's softer profile reflects the significant Rum River contribution at this Mississippi reach. The Rum River drains Mille Lacs Lake and the wooded lake country of Aitkin and Mille Lacs counties — a landscape underlain by the southern edge of the Precambrian Canadian Shield (granite, gneiss, metasedimentary schist) with minimal carbonate exposure. This crystalline-terrain soft water input from the Rum River meaningfully dilutes the more carbonate-laden Mississippi flow.

At 92.5 mg/L, Champlin's water is moderately soft — among the softer metro area river supplies in Minnesota. Scale forms slowly in appliances over many months, soap lathers well, and the dishwasher produces clean glassware without special treatment. Semi-annual descaling of kettles and coffee machines is adequate. The very low PFAS level of 3.3 ppt is favorable for a Hennepin County community — Champlin's position upstream of the major Minneapolis metro industrial corridor means it receives relatively clean PFAS inputs compared to downstream communities.