Albuquerque, New Mexico

ABCWUA: San Juan-Chama surface water blended with groundwater since 2008. Hardness moderately hard to hard by zone. Chlorine. Look up your zone; this file does not invent grains.

Water utility

Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA)

Sanitation district

ABCWUA / City of Albuquerque wastewater (confirm on the bill)

Salt / brine discharge

No district prohibition found in current research. No Albuquerque or Bernalillo County sanitation prohibition comparable to LACSD Measure S turned up. Ask the Water Authority / sewer utility.

Hardness (as published)

ABCWUA FAQ: since December 2008, treated surface water and groundwater have been blended; hardness ranges from moderately hard to hard depending on sources and blend. Look up your distribution zone. This file does not invent a citywide gpg from a third-party site. — ABCWUA drinking water FAQs (hardness); 2025 Water Quality Report

Disinfectant (as published)

Chlorination (sodium hypochlorite). 2025 report lists chlorine disinfectant in the distribution system. — ABCWUA 2025 Water Quality Report; ABCWUA treatment description

What actually fits

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If soap will not lather and the glassware looks chalky

Two tall mineral tanks and a black brine tank of a salt-based water softener, plumbed with copper pipe in a garage. — Salt-based softener: two mineral tanks and a brine tank.

A salt-based softener is the thing that actually removes hardness. Size it from your grains and how much water you use, not bathroom count. It needs a drain.

Shop salt-based softeners

If you only want less scale and you hate salt bags

A single tall tank with no brine tank, installed in a laundry alcove next to a washing machine. — Salt-free conditioner: one tank, no salt bin.

A salt-free conditioner changes how scale sticks. It does not soften. Soap and spots stay closer to untreated. No brine line.

Shop salt-free conditioners

If the shower just smells like the pool

A single black whole-house carbon tank with a control head, installed in a garage and connected to copper pipe. — Whole-house carbon tank. No brine tank.

That is chlorine. A whole-house carbon filter with an NSF/ANSI 42 chlorine claim is the usual match. A softener will not take chlorine out.

Shop whole-house carbon

If you are shopping a PFAS listing for the kitchen

Under-sink reverse osmosis system with a white storage tank, filter canisters, and colored tubing in a kitchen cabinet. — Under-sink reverse osmosis: filters, tank, and a second faucet.

A pitcher or under-sink RO whose exact model is listed for PFAS under NSF/ANSI 53 or 58. The RO shop link is Waterdrop. Pitchers stay on a tagged Amazon search. We have not picked a model.

Shop Waterdrop reverse osmosis Shop PFAS-listed pitchers

If you have not tested the tap

A homeowner kit is a start. It is not a state-certified lab. Use a certified lab when the decision is expensive.

Shop water test kits

Albuquerque is a zone-blend file. San Juan-Chama surface plant plus wells, mixed since 2008.

What ABCWUA publishes

The FAQ says hardness is moderately hard to hard and tells you to look up your distribution zone. We are not promoting a scraped 8.2 gpg as the Authority’s citywide number.

Groundwater “requires little treatment other than disinfection via chlorination.” Surface water is treated at the San Juan-Chama plant.

Salt discharge

unrestricted-as-of-research.

What to match here

Hardness: zone first, then the quote.
Chlorine: 42 chlorine carbon.

Updated August 30, 2026. Adding another city is a new Markdown file in src/content/cities, not a rewrite of this page.