Hard water in Peabody, MA
Reported by Peabody Water Dept. · June 2025
- MA typical
- 38 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 24k grain
- Data
- Utility report
The water in Peabody carries roughly 128 mg/L of dissolved calcium and magnesium, or 7.5 grains per gallon. That is hard water. The number comes from Peabody Water Dept., dated June 2025. Reports for this system disagree, with values from 62 to 128 mg/L.
At 128 mg/L, Peabody is 90 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 10 mg/L in Saugus to 130 in Danvers.
What 128 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 128 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.
3 people × 75 gallons a day × 7.5 gpg = 1,685 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 14 days.
EPA record for Peabody's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 54,481 people from surface water.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 14
- 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 Peabody water hard?
Yes. It measures about 128 mg/L (7.5 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as hard.
What is the water hardness in Peabody in grains per gallon?
About 7.5 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 128 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 7.5.
What size water softener do I need in Peabody?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 7.5 gpg works out to about 1,685 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 14 days.
Has the Peabody water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for Peabody Water Dept. since 2016. There were also 14 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Danvers130 mg/LHard
- Lynnfield72 mg/LModerately hard
- Lynn67 mg/LModerately hard
- Salem67 mg/LModerately hard
- Saugus10 mg/LSoft
- Wakefield51 mg/LSoft
- Swampscott38 mg/LSoft
- Beverly70 mg/LModerately hard
- Reading22 mg/LSoft
- Melrose18 mg/LSoft
All 104 cities in Massachusetts
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, June 18, 2025), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.