Oregon City Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Oregon City, Oregon, the Clackamas County seat — a major historic northwest Oregon community (Oregon City holds the distinction of being the first city in the western United States to be incorporated — chartered in 1844, it was the first capital of the Oregon Territory and the western terminus of the Oregon Trail; the Oregon Trail ended at Oregon City), a community at the Willamette Falls (one of the largest waterfalls by volume in the United States — the Willamette Falls at Oregon City were a major historical site for Native American salmon fishing and the site of the world's first long-distance AC electrical transmission in 1889), and a historic Clackamas County city in the south Portland metro — draws its municipal water supply from the Clackamas River via Clackamas River Water. Water hardness in Oregon City measures 53.5 mg/L — classified as soft.

Oregon City's soft supply reflects the Clackamas River Cascade Mountain watershed's calcareous-poor volcanic geology. The Clackamas River drains the Western Cascades and High Cascades (Eocene–Miocene calcareous-poor Cascades volcanic basalt and andesite — the highly calcareous-poor Cascade volcanic terrane with virtually no dissolved calcium carbonate). Clackamas River Water treatment produces the soft 53.5 mg/L.

With hardness at 53.5 mg/L, Oregon City residents enjoy soft water. Clackamas River Water consistently delivers water meeting all Oregon DEQ and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.