Hugo Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Hugo, Minnesota, in Washington County — a Washington County city adjacent to Forest Lake and White Bear Lake in east-central Minnesota — receives its water from the Hugo Water District or Washington County utilities, drawing from the Mississippi River supply or local deep groundwater (Washington County) through the east-central Minnesota distribution.

The extremely hard 283 mg/L hardness and very high TDS of 753.5 mg/L reflect the east-central Minnesota Till Plains supply's extreme calcareous-dolomitic character — among the hardest in the Minnesota dataset, driven by the deep Ordovician dolomitic glacial till dissolution at the Washington County position. The Washington County watershed drains the Minnesota Till Plains — Ordovician Prairie du Chien Dolomite (dolomitic — primary hardness contributor), Ordovician Galena Dolomite (dolomitic — secondary contributor), Cambrian Jordan Sandstone (insoluble), and Quaternary calcareous glacial till (derived from Ordovician dolomite bedrock).

At 283 mg/L with TDS 753, Hugo's water is extremely hard. A water softener is strongly recommended and a reverse osmosis system is beneficial for drinking water. Without treatment, scale builds very rapidly on all surfaces and appliances are severely shortened. The PFAS level of 7.6 ppt warrants a certified reverse osmosis drinking water filter — Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (Hennepin County — AFFF) and the east-central Minnesota industrial corridor contribute to Hugo's readings.