Massachusetts water hardness, by utility.

288 Massachusetts utilities serving 7.3 million people as they report it, from the state’s own results. Hardness is the calcium and magnesium in water; EPA sets no limit for it.

The short answer

Soft water reaches the most people here: 107 utilities serving 5.3 million. Another 95 utilities, serving 1.4 million, have water in more than one band.

The largest, MWRA, is soft, typically 11 mg/L (0.7 grains per gallon).

Very hard

Above 180 mg/L (10.5 grains per gallon). 16 utilities serving 9,756 people, largest first.

Massachusetts utilities: very hard water
Utility	Based in	Serves	Hardness, mg/L	Grains per gallon
Wenham Water Dept.	Wenham	3,942	233	13.6
Hillcrest Water District	Leicester	1,500	191	11.2
Harvard Water Department	Harvard	1,422	220	12.9
Cheshire Water Dept	Cheshire	1,407	216	12.6
Applewood Community Corporation	Boxborough	500	240	14
Sweet Wood Retirement Community	Williamstown	200	381	22.3
Andrews Farm Water Co.,inc.	Boxford	150	211	12.3
Harvard Green Condominiums	Harvard	150	209	12.2
Highland Ridge Condominiums	Berlin	132	205	12
Pine Hill Condominium	Acton	95	399	23.3
Northbrook Village II	Berlin	80	189	11.1
Sunset Ridge Condominiums	Bolton	42	191	11.2
Whitney Estates Condominiums	Berlin	40	238	13.9
Centre Village Apartments	Boxborough	36	259	15.1
Maynard State LLC	Westport	35	193	11.3
Leland Farms	Sherborn	25	546	31.9

Hard

121 to 180 mg/L (7.1 to 10.5 grains per gallon). 20 utilities serving 73,374 people, largest first.

Massachusetts utilities: hard water
Utility	Based in	Serves	Hardness, mg/L	Grains per gallon
Shrewsbury Water Department	Shrewsbury	38,325	121	7.1
Wilmington Water Dept	Wilmington	21,654	145	8.5
Adams Fire District	Adams	7,945	125	7.3
Riverbridge	Berlin	1,330	126	7.4
Jiminy Peak Resort	Hancock	1,000	161	9.4
Aquarion Water Company	Sheffield	987	136	7.9
Cliffside Apartments	Sunderland	500	158	9.2
Harvard Ridge Condominium	Boxborough	350	155	9.1
Juniper Hill Water Company	Stow	220	146	8.5
Ayer Road Properties LLC	Harvard	150	164	9.6
Meadowbrook Village Condominiums	Berlin	150	137	8
Regency at Bolton Condominiums	Bolton	148	160	9.4
Pilot Grove Apartments II	Stow	134	173	10.1
Regency at Stow Condominiums	Stow	132	157	9.2
Colony Heights Condominium	Tyngsborough	120	164	9.6
Hampden Housing Authority	Hampden	59	145	8.5
Pinewood on the Green Condos	Oxford	50	145	8.5
Still Meadow Village Condominiums	Groton	50	130	7.6
Old Farm Road Water Trust	Dover	40	126	7.4
Countryside Condominium	Grafton	30	175	10.2

Moderately hard

61 to 120 mg/L (3.6 to 7 grains per gallon). 50 utilities serving 556,911 people; the 25 largest are here.

Massachusetts utilities: moderately hard water
Utility	Based in	Serves	Hardness, mg/L	Grains per gallon
Cambridge Water Department	Cambridge	118,214	72	4.2
Lynn Water and Sewer Comm	Lynn	101,253	63	3.7
Billerica Water Works	Billerica	42,119	66	3.8
Woburn Water Dept.	Woburn	40,876	99	5.8
Abington/Rockland Joint WTR. Works	Abington	33,387	73	4.3
Needham Water Dept	Needham	31,664	92	5.4
West Springfield DPW Water Division	West Springfield	28,835	108	6.3
Wakefield Water Dept	Wakefield	27,090	61	3.6
Canton Water Dept	Canton	22,766	80	4.6
Seekonk Water District	Seekonk	13,801	73	4.2
Lenox DPW Water Division	Lenox	9,800	78	4.5
Georgetown Water Department	Georgetown	8,766	86	5
Halifax Water Department	Halifax	7,575	72	4.2
Spencer Water Department	Spencer	7,037	70	4.1
Orange Water Dept	Orange	6,526	77	4.5
Groveland Water Department	Groveland	6,508	87	5.1
Dalton Fire District	Dalton	6,330	75	4.4
South Hadley Fire District #2 Water Dept	South Hadley	6,200	87	5.1
Rowley Water Department	Rowley	6,161	93	5.4
Lancaster Water Department	Lancaster	6,000	77	4.5
Groton Water Department	Groton	5,017	86	5
Town of Avon	Avon	4,777	84	4.9
Sturbridge Water Department	Sturbridge	4,746	85	5
West Newbury Water Department	West Newbury	4,704	90	5.2
Tewksbury Hospital	Tewksbury	2,500	104	6.1

All 50 with moderately hard water

Soft

Up to 60 mg/L (3.5 grains per gallon). 107 utilities serving 5.3 million people; the 25 largest are here.

Massachusetts utilities: soft water
Utility	Based in	Serves	Hardness, mg/L	Grains per gallon
MWRA	Boston	2,580,000	11	0.7
Boston Water and Sewer Commission (MWRA)	Boston	675,647	11 to 16	0.6 to 0.9
Lowell Regional Water Utility	Lowell	120,418	19	1.1
Brockton Water Department	Brockton	105,788	24	1.4
City of New Bedford Dpi	New Bedford	101,079	16	0.9
Falmouth Water Dept	Falmouth	97,551	16	0.9
Fall River Water Department	Fall River	94,000	8.5	0.5
Lawrence Water Works	Lawrence	89,143	21	1.2
Taunton Water Division	Taunton	62,165	13	0.7
Weymouth Water Department	Weymouth	57,871	15	0.9
Upper Cape Regional Water Cooperative	Sandwich	56,250	13	0.7
Centerville Osterville Marstons Mills WD	Barnstable	50,000	19	1.1
Randolph/Holbrook Joint Water Board	Randolph	46,519	58	3.4
Attleboro Water Dept	Attleboro	46,461	41	2.4
Pittsfield Dpu Water Dept	Pittsfield	43,927	21	1.2
Fitchburg DPW Division of Water Supply	Fitchburg	41,946	7.9	0.5
Marlborough DPW Water Div. (MWRA)	Marlborough	41,799	15	0.9
Harwich Water Department	Harwich	39,144	24	1.4
Braintree Water and Sewer Dept.	Braintree	39,143	52	3
Yarmouth Water Department	Yarmouth	38,900	18	1.1
Holyoke Water Works	Holyoke	37,838	14	0.8
Gloucester Public Utility Division	Gloucester	37,440	18	1
Andover Water Dept	Andover	36,569	38	2.2
Brewster Water Department	Brewster	35,000	27	1.6
Hyannis Water System, Town of Barnstable	Barnstable	35,000	17	1

All 107 with soft water

Varies

Water in more than one band, depending on where or when it was sampled: each is given as its range, softest to hardest, and its report says more. 95 utilities serving 1.4 million people; the 25 largest are here.

Massachusetts utilities: varies water
Utility	Based in	Serves	Hardness, mg/L	Grains per gallon
Haverhill Water Dept	Haverhill	61,277	27 to 60	1.6 to 3.5
Peabody Water Dept.	Peabody	54,481	59 to 310	3.4 to 18.1
Plymouth Water Department	Plymouth	47,100	8 to 75	0.5 to 4.4
Weir River Water System	Hingham	45,339	108 to 123	6.3 to 7.2
Dedham Westwood Water Dist.	Dedham	41,630	91 to 161	5.3 to 9.4
Westfield Dpwwater Division	Westfield	41,094	8 to 121	0.5 to 7
Amherst DPW Water Division	Amherst	39,263	6.9 to 88	0.4 to 5.1
Natick Water and Sewer Division	Natick	37,006	90 to 157	5.3 to 9.2
Marshfield Water Department	Marshfield	34,000	39 to 124	2.3 to 7.3
Franklin Water Department	Franklin	33,706	37 to 91	2.2 to 5.3
North Attleboro Water Dept	North Attleborough	31,410	49 to 91	2.8 to 5.3
Northampton Water Division	Northampton	29,571	21 to 64	1.2 to 3.7
Stoughton Water Department	Stoughton	29,281	31 to 64	1.8 to 3.7
Chelmsford Water District	Chelmsford	28,750	61 to 202	3.6 to 11.8
Bridgewater Water Department	Bridgewater	28,633	56 to 67	3.3 to 3.9
Danvers Water Dept.	Danvers	28,087	32 to 168	1.9 to 9.8
Wannacomet Water Company	Nantucket	27,703	42 to 78	2.5 to 4.6
Burlington Water Dept	Burlington	25,864	14 to 189	0.8 to 11.1
Dracut Water Supply District	Dracut	25,808	39 to 73	2.3 to 4.3
Easton Water Div	Easton	25,058	46 to 121	2.7 to 7.1
Walpole Water Dept	Walpole	24,070	56 to 69	3.3 to 4
Mansfield Water Division	Mansfield	21,797	29 to 74	1.7 to 4.3
Westborough Water Department	Westborough	21,567	44 to 129	2.6 to 7.5
Acton Water Supply District	Acton	21,285	48 to 115	2.8 to 6.7
Newburyport Water Department	Newburyport	20,335	47 to 152	2.7 to 8.9

All 95 whose water varies

Source: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Drinking Water Program, 287 utilities, results from Jan. 5, 2015 to Sept. 23, 2026, read Oct. 10, 2026. Each sampling point is taken at its median; a figure is typical where every point falls in one band.

Also: 1 utility’s own water quality reports, read by hand, each named on the utility’s page.

Bands are the U.S. Geological Survey’s, at 17.1 mg/L to the grain. People served is what each utility reports; where one sells water to another, the same people can be counted twice. How hardness is measured here.

Very hard

Hard

Moderately hard

Soft

Varies

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