How hard is the water in Holbrook, MA?

Tap water hardness
74mg/L
4.3gpg
Moderately hard

Reported by Town of Avon · June 2022

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

The water in Holbrook carries roughly 74 mg/L of dissolved calcium and magnesium, or 4.3 grains per gallon. That is moderately hard water. The number comes from Town of Avon, dated June 2022.

Holbrook on the hardness scale, with nearby cities
060120180240300360+MA typical 38Weymouth: 28 mg/LWeymouth 28Quincy: 38 mg/LQuincy 38Milton: 44 mg/LMilton 44Norwood: 46 mg/LNorwood 46Sharon: 47 mg/LSharon 47Brockton: 49 mg/LBrockton 49Braintree: 55 mg/LBraintree 55Abington: 67 mg/LAbington 67Randolph: 68 mg/LRandolph 68Hingham: 123 mg/LHingham 123Holbrook 74mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+MA 38Weymouth: 28 mg/LWeymouth 28Milton: 44 mg/LMilton 44Brockton: 49 mg/LBrockton 49Braintree: 55 mg/LBraintree 55Abington: 67 mg/LAbington 67Randolph: 68 mg/LRandolph 6874 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

At 74 mg/L, Holbrook is 36 mg/L above the typical Massachusetts figure of 38. Of the 10 nearest cities we track, 9 have softer water and 1 has harder. The range nearby runs from 28 mg/L in Weymouth to 123 in Hingham.

What 74 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 Holbrook

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 4.3 gpg = 976 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 24 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Holbrook's water system

Holbrook Public Works Dept · PWSID MA4133000

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 11,405 people from surface water.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
5
Open now
0

EPA lists Holbrook Public Works Dept as the system serving Holbrook. The hardness figure above comes from a different system's report, which TapWaterData uses for Holbrook.

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 Holbrook water hard?

Somewhat. It measures about 74 mg/L (4.3 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as moderately hard.

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

About 4.3 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 74 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 4.3.

What size water softener do I need in Holbrook?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 4.3 gpg works out to about 976 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 24 days.

Has the Holbrook water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Holbrook Public Works Dept since 2016. There were also 5 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, June 7, 2022), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.