A water-softener lead looks soft (no pun intended) but qualifies on hard numbers. Before your team drives out, you want to know three things: how hard the water is, whether there's iron, and how big the household is. Get those, and you know what to treat, what to size, and whether this is a clean softener sale or a job that needs iron treatment too. An AI water specialist gathers them automatically; here's what the answers mean.
Hardness: the number that sizes the softener
Hardness is measured in grains per gallon (gpg), and it's the single number that drives softener sizing. Here's the range and what customers actually notice:
| Hardness | Grains per gallon | What the customer notices |
|---|---|---|
| Soft | 0–3 gpg | Nothing — a softener usually isn't needed |
| Moderate | 3–7 gpg | Spotting on glassware, soap film, "not sudsy" |
| Hard | 7–10 gpg | Scale on fixtures, dry skin and hair, stiff laundry |
| Very hard | 10+ gpg | Heavy scale, shortened appliance life, constant cleaning |
For city water, the utility's report often gives hardness directly; for well water, it takes a test. Either way, hardness × the household's daily water use = the daily grain load the softener has to handle.
The five questions that qualify the lead
- 1
Hardness
How hard is the water (gpg)? From the utility report for city water, or the symptoms + a test for well water. - 2
Iron
Any orange/brown staining? Iron changes the plan and consumes softener capacity. - 3
Household
How many people, and peak simultaneous demand? This sizes the resin and flow rate. - 4
Source
City or well? Well water means no report — diagnose from symptoms and confirm with the test. - 5
Book
Book the in-home test to confirm the numbers and finalize the size.
When iron or well water changes the plan
Book the test on a strong hypothesis
You don't need a lab result to qualify a softener lead — you need a strong, sourced hypothesis and a booked test. When the hardness, iron, and household size arrive with the lead, your specialist walks in ready to size and quote instead of starting from zero. That's the difference between a name to chase and a pre-diagnosed lead ready to close.