LADWP hardness changes with the source (roughly 93 mg/L at LAAFP, much harder on some other sources). Chloramine in the pipes. City sewer is LASAN, not the LACSD Santa Clarita Valley ban.
Check the sanitation district before installing. City of Los Angeles sewer is LASAN. The LACSD automatic-softener prohibition we cite is the Santa Clarita Valley / Measure S file, not a citywide Los Angeles rule. We did not find a published LASAN ban comparable to Measure S. Adjacent LACSD cities are a different sewer. Ask the agency on the sewer bill.
Hardness (as published)
Varies by source. LADWP monitoring tables: Los Angeles Aqueduct Filtration Plant about 103 mg/L as CaCO3 (range 93–107); other published source ranges run into the mid/high 200s mg/L. Not one ZIP-wide grains number. — LADWP Drinking Water Quality Report monitoring results tables
Disinfectant (as published)
Chloramine (ammonia + chloramines listed on LADWP monitoring tables; PHG report describes chloramination before distribution) — LADWP monitoring results tables; 2025 Drinking Water Public Health Goals Report
What actually fits
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If soap will not lather and you want a salt softener
Salt-based softener: two mineral tanks and a brine tank.
Ask the agency on the sewer side of the bill before you cut a brine drain. California lets districts restrict self-regenerating units. A “banned in California” blog is not your district.
If you are shopping a PFAS listing for the kitchen
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.
Los Angeles is a blend file, not a single-hardness file. LADWP’s own tables split results by source and plant. Copying one aqueduct number onto the Valley or the Harbor is how dealer blogs get written.
What LADWP publishes
The public monitoring tables list hardness as CaCO3 around 103 mg/L (93–107) at the Los Angeles Aqueduct Filtration Plant and much harder on some other sources (published averages/ranges into the 200+ mg/L band). Iron complaints in LADWP customer language are often rust from plumbing or mains, not a citywide iron-filter problem on the finished-water tables.
Disinfection residual is chloramine. The Public Health Goals report describes chloramination before water enters distribution. A chlorine-only NSF/ANSI 42 listing is the wrong box.
Salt discharge
LASAN owns most City of Los Angeles sewers. LACSD’s Santa Clarita Valley prohibition is a different district and a different river (Santa Clara River chloride). Do not paste Measure S onto a Hollywood address. We did not find a published LASAN ordinance that copies that ban. If you are in an LACSD contract city, read that district — not this file.
