How hard is the water in Norfolk County, MA?

2.4 grains per gallon

You do not need a softener here.

The median hardness measured in Norfolk County, MA is 41 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 2.4 gpg. That is soft on the USGS scale. It comes from 250 samples at 19 sites between 1990 and 2021, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.

How much it varies here

Half the sites came in between 1.6 and 4.2 gpg. That spread crosses a decision line, so some homes here land on a different answer. A $10 test strip on your own tap settles it. Confidence in the county figure: high (how it is measured).

What to do next

You can skip the softener. At 2.4 gpg the most a softener would fix is the odd water spot. If a salesperson in Norfolk County says otherwise, ask to see their reading in grains per gallon and compare it with this one. Because Norfolk County straddles a decision line, check your own tap with a $10 test strip before you spend anything.

More on when a softener is not worth it.

From 1.4 to 7.1 gpg

The softest single sample on record in Norfolk County was 23.3 mg/L and the hardest 122 mg/L, a 5-fold gap. The top quarter of sites read above 4.2 gpg and the bottom quarter below 1.6 gpg.

Wells 2.9 gpg, rivers and lakes 2.4 gpg

7 groundwater samples from 3 wells put the median at 48.9 mg/L. 151 surface samples from 12 sites put it at 40.6 mg/L. In Norfolk County the wells come out 0.5 gpg harder. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years and picks up calcium and magnesium as it goes, so wells usually read harder. The two sources are close, so the county figure should hold whichever one your tap is on.

Norfolk County against the rest of Massachusetts

Among the 12 Massachusetts counties with data, Norfolk County is number 9 of 12 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 19% of counties.

Softest in Massachusetts: Barnstable County at 1.3 gpg. Hardest: Berkshire County at 8.9 gpg. Closest to Norfolk County: Franklin County (2.2), Bristol County (2.6), Plymouth County (1.3).