How hard is the water in Woburn, MA?

Tap water hardness
99mg/L
5.8gpg
Moderately hard

Reported by Woburn Water Dept. · October 2024

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

Tap water in Woburn has about 99 mg/L of hardness, which is 5.8 grains per gallon. On the USGS scale that counts as moderately hard. The number comes from Woburn Water Dept., dated October 2024.

Woburn 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 68Burlington: 104 mg/LBurlington 104Woburn 99mg/L as calcium carbonate060120180240300360+MA 38Stoneham: 16 mg/LStoneham 16Arlington: 17 mg/LArlington 17Winchester: 20 mg/LWinchester 20Reading: 22 mg/LReading 22Wakefield: 51 mg/LWakefield 51Burlington: 104 mg/LBurlington 10499 mg/Lmg/L as calcium carbonate
Soft 0–60 mg/LModerately hard 61–120 mg/LHard 121–180 mg/LVery hard 181+ mg/L

Woburn sits 61 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 16 mg/L in Stoneham to 104 in Burlington.

What 99 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 Woburn

3 people × 75 gallons a day × 5.8 gpg = 1,303 grains a day. A 24,000-grain unit regenerates about every 18 days.

Size it for your household

EPA record for Woburn's water system

Woburn Water Dept. · PWSID MA3347000

No health-based violations since 2016

Serves about 40,876 people from surface water.

Health-based
0
Monitoring or reporting
0
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 Woburn water hard?

Somewhat. It measures about 99 mg/L (5.8 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as moderately hard.

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

About 5.8 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 99 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 5.8.

What size water softener do I need in Woburn?

For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 5.8 gpg works out to about 1,303 grains a day. A 24,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 18 days.

Has the Woburn water system had EPA violations?

EPA records show no health-based violations for Woburn Water Dept. since 2016.

Nearby cities

All 104 cities in Massachusetts

Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, October 11, 2024), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.