Taunton Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Taunton, Massachusetts, the Bristol County seat — the 'Silver City' (America's silverware manufacturing capital of the 18th–19th centuries, sharing that distinction with Meriden, CT), now a major southeastern Massachusetts hub undergoing revitalization — draws its municipal water supply from the East Taunton Reservoir and the Taunton River watershed via the Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant (TMLP) Water Division, treating southeastern Massachusetts watershed water for Taunton. Water hardness in Taunton measures 86.5 mg/L — classified as moderately soft.

Taunton's moderate softness reflects the southeastern Massachusetts coastal plain glacier outwash geology. The Taunton River watershed above Taunton drains: the Brockton–Taunton glacial outwash plain (Wisconsin Age outwash sand and gravel — calcareous-poor quartz sand from the Southeastern New England Crystalline Massif); the Myles Standish glaciofluvial outwash plain (siliceous quartz sand — minimal calcareous content); and the Carboniferous–Devonian crystalline terrain of the Taunton–Attleboro area (calcium-poor Dedham Granite and Milford Pink Granite). The predominantly siliceous quartz sand and crystalline terrain produces the moderately soft 86.5 mg/L.

With hardness at 86.5 mg/L, Taunton residents enjoy moderately soft water with minimal scale challenges. TMLP Water Division consistently delivers water meeting all Massachusetts MassDEP and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.