Willows at Boxford

What EPA’s and Massachusetts’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves: 132 people
Connections: 66
Water source: Groundwater
Based in: Boxford, MA
County: Essex
Owner: Private
Hardness: Moderately hard

The ZIP code it serves

01921

The short answer

Nothing in EPA’s and Massachusetts’s records for this utility is above a health goal. That covers nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals, plus lead and copper, not everything. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What was found

Fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and nitrate: Massachusetts’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 27, 2024 to Jan. 28, 2026.

Below EPA’s limits1

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.12ppm

Highest yearly average, 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.12 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.23 ppm. That is the only year on file.

What handles it

NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Fluoride Reduction”
NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Fluoride”

4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.

Arsenic
Chromium (total)
Lead
Nitrate

Hardness

Moderately hard, 73 mg/L (4.3 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 2023 to 2026.

Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.

Softeners compared at 4.3 grains per gallon, salt included Softener or salt-free conditioner?Massachusetts water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016.

What this report can’t tell you

Everything else. Fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and nitrate results here are Massachusetts’s own from 2024 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Willows at Boxford’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has the contaminants this page does not show.
Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.
What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.
Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 didn’t sample this utility; Massachusetts’s results run from Feb. 27, 2024 to Jan. 28, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Willows at Boxford’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab Massachusetts certifies.

The 3 labs Massachusetts certifies closest to the area Willows at Boxford serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

Eurofins Danvers
Danvers, MA · about 8 miles
Certified for bacteria
(978) 777-4442
New England Chromachem Inc.
Salem, MA · about 13 miles
Certified for organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, PFAS
(978) 744-6600
Biomarine Inc.
Gloucester, MA · about 18 miles
Certified for bacteria
(978) 281-0222