Peabody Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Peabody, Massachusetts, in Essex County on the North Shore — the 'Leather City' (historically the center of the American leather tanning industry), home of the Peabody Essex Museum (the world's oldest continuously operating museum), and a major North Shore Massachusetts suburban community — draws its municipal water supply from the Ipswich River watershed (Lake Toneycroft and Putnamville Reservoir) via the City of Peabody Department of Public Works Water Division. Water hardness in Peabody measures 61.5 mg/L — classified as moderately soft.

Peabody's moderate softness reflects the Ipswich River–North Shore Massachusetts watershed's glaciofluvial geology. The Ipswich River watershed above Peabody–Salem drains: the Essex County glaciofluvial outwash plain (Wisconsin Age outwash sand and gravel from the Peabody–Salem–Beverly coastal corridor — the Newburyport Batholith granite and Cape Ann Granite calcareous-poor coastal plutons); the North Shore Proterozoic crystalline terrain (Peabody Granite and Lynn Volcanic Complex — calcium-poor coastal Proterozoic rocks); and the Salem Witch Trials Historic District coastal plain (quartz sand deposits). The calcium-poor North Shore crystalline terrain and siliceous outwash produce the moderate 61.5 mg/L at Peabody.

With hardness at 61.5 mg/L, Peabody residents enjoy moderately soft water with minimal scale challenges. City of Peabody Department of Public Works Water Division consistently delivers water meeting all Massachusetts MassDEP and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.