Hard water in Danvers, MA

Tap water hardness
130mg/L
7.6gpg
Hard

Reported by Danvers Water Dept. · September 2025

MA typical
38 mg/L
EPA health violations since 2016
1
Softener for 3 people
24k grain
Data
Utility report

Danvers water measures 130 mg/L (7.6 gpg) of hardness, hard by USGS standards. The number comes from Danvers Water Dept., dated September 2025.

Danvers on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+MA typical 38Saugus: 10 mg/LSaugus 10Marblehead: 16 mg/LMarblehead 16Reading: 22 mg/LReading 22Swampscott: 38 mg/LSwampscott 38Wakefield: 51 mg/LWakefield 51Salem: 67 mg/LSalem 67Lynn: 67 mg/LLynn 67Beverly: 70 mg/LBeverly 70Lynnfield: 72 mg/LLynnfield 72Peabody: 128 mg/LPeabody 128Danvers 130mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+MA 38Wakefield: 51 mg/LWakefield 51Salem: 67 mg/LSalem 67Lynn: 67 mg/LLynn 67Beverly: 70 mg/LBeverly 70Lynnfield: 72 mg/LLynnfield 72Peabody: 128 mg/LPeabody 128130 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

Danvers sits 92 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 10 mg/L in Saugus to 128 in Peabody.

What 130 mg/L means at home

Expect white crust on faucets and showerheads, plus spots on dishes that come out of the dishwasher.

Kettles collect scale quickly. Water heaters build up sediment at the bottom of the tank, which makes them work harder over time.

Soap and detergent need a little more to lather, and soap scum shows up in the tub.

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

At 130 mg/L most of the trouble is scale, and only a few things deal with it.

Ion-exchange water softener

The standard whole-house fix. It swaps calcium and magnesium for sodium or potassium and needs salt plus a drain. Size it with the calculator below.

Salt-free conditioner

No salt and no drain line. It changes how minerals form scale instead of removing them, so water still tests hard.

Reverse osmosis or carbon filter

Under-sink reverse osmosis removes minerals from drinking water only. Plain carbon filters improve taste but do not soften.

Softener size for Danvers

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 7.6 gpg = 1,710 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 14 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Danvers's water system

Danvers Water Dept. · PWSID MA3071000

1 health-based violation since 2016

Serves about 28,087 people from surface water.

Health-based
1
Monitoring or reporting
0
Open now
0
20162017201820192020202120222023202420252026Lead and Copper Rule'16'18'20'22'24'26Lead and Copper Rule
Each dot is one health-based violation, placed at the start of its compliance period.
Contaminant or ruleViolationsPeriodStatus
Lead and Copper Rulecorrosion control and lead sampling12025Resolved

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 Danvers water hard?

Yes. It measures about 130 mg/L (7.6 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.

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

About 7.6 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 130 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 7.6.

What size water softener do I need in Danvers?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 7.6 gpg works out to about 1,710 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 14 days.

Has the Danvers water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show 1 health-based violation for Danvers Water Dept. since 2016, involving Lead and Copper Rule.

Nearby cities

All 104 cities in Massachusetts

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, September 2, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.