How hard is the water in Burlington, MA?

Tap water hardness
104mg/L
6.0gpg
Moderately hardReports range 74–104

Reported by Burlington Water Dept · October 2024

MA typical
38 mg/L
EPA health violations since 2016
0
Softener for 3 people
24k grain
Data
Utility report

Burlington water measures 104 mg/L (6.0 gpg) of hardness, moderately hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Burlington Water Dept, dated October 2024. Reports for this system disagree, with values from 74 to 104 mg/L.

Burlington on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+MA typical 38Stoneham: 16 mg/LStoneham 16Arlington: 17 mg/LArlington 17Winchester: 20 mg/LWinchester 20Medford: 21 mg/LMedford 21Reading: 22 mg/LReading 22Lexington: 33 mg/LLexington 33Wakefield: 51 mg/LWakefield 51Pinehurst: 62 mg/LPinehurst 62Wilmington: 68 mg/LWilmington 68Woburn: 99 mg/LWoburn 99Burlington 104mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+MA 38Winchester: 20 mg/LWinchester 20Reading: 22 mg/LReading 22Lexington: 33 mg/LLexington 33Pinehurst: 62 mg/LPinehurst 62Wilmington: 68 mg/LWilmington 68Woburn: 99 mg/LWoburn 99104 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

Burlington sits 66 mg/L above the typical Massachusetts figure of 38. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has harder water. The range nearby runs from 16 mg/L in Stoneham to 99 in Woburn.

What 104 mg/L means at home

You may see faint white spots on glasses and shower doors after the water dries.

Scale builds up slowly. A kettle or coffee maker needs descaling now and then, maybe every few months.

Hardness is not a health problem, and EPA sets no limit for it. It is a matter of scale and soap.

What to do about it

Optional. Plenty of households at this level live with it and descale the kettle now and then.

Water softener

Worth a look if spots on glass bother you, or if your tankless water heater manual asks for softer water.

Carbon filter

Improves taste and removes chlorine. It leaves calcium and magnesium in place.

Softener size for Burlington

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 6.0 gpg = 1,361 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 17 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Burlington's water system

Burlington Water Dept · PWSID MA3048000

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 25,864 people from surface water.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
3
Open now
0

Health-based means a contaminant above its legal limit or a missed treatment step. Monitoring and reporting violations are late or missing tests and notices. Source: EPA ECHO, 2026Q3 export, violations with periods starting 2016 or later. Full EPA record.

Questions

Is Burlington water hard?

Somewhat. It measures about 104 mg/L (6.0 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as moderately hard.

What is the water hardness in Burlington in grains per gallon?

About 6.0 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 104 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 6.0.

What size water softener do I need in Burlington?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 6.0 gpg works out to about 1,361 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 17 days.

Has the Burlington water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Burlington Water Dept since 2016. There were also 3 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.

Nearby cities

All 104 cities in Massachusetts

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, October 16, 2024), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.