Shrewsbury Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, in Worcester County — a major Worcester County suburban community (Shrewsbury is a significant Worcester County town directly adjacent to Worcester — one of the most affluent communities in central Massachusetts, with consistently high household incomes and highly regarded public schools), home of the Oracle Corporation New England campus (a major tech employer in the Shrewsbury area — one of the large Oracle installations in New England), a diverse Worcester County community with a significant South Asian-American and Chinese-American technology professional population, and a rapidly growing Worcester suburban community in the I-290 corridor — draws its municipal water supply via the Shrewsbury Water Department. Water hardness in Shrewsbury measures 121.5 mg/L — classified as moderately hard.

Shrewsbury's moderate hardness — harder than typical Massachusetts water — reflects the local Worcester County aquifer supply. The Shrewsbury Water Department draws from the local Quinsigamond and Shrewsbury watershed (a combination of Paxton sand and gravel aquifer wells and surface water). The central Massachusetts bedrock (Precambrian–Paleozoic calcareous-moderate in spots — some Worcester County formations have higher mineral content than coastal Massachusetts) and local glacial deposits produce the moderate 121.5 mg/L.

At 121.5 mg/L, Shrewsbury residents encounter moderate scale accumulation. Monthly cleaning with citric acid solution is recommended. Shrewsbury Water Department consistently delivers water meeting all Massachusetts DEP and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.