Glassboro Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Glassboro, New Jersey, in Gloucester County — the Gloucester County borough home of Rowan University, a significant south New Jersey academic community in the Delaware Valley suburban corridor — receives its municipal water from the Gloucester County Utilities Authority or local borough water systems, drawing from the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer in the South Jersey Atlantic Coastal Plain.

The moderately hard 180.5 mg/L hardness and elevated TDS of 481.3 mg/L reflect the South Jersey Coastal Plain aquifer's calcareous character at depth. The Kirkwood Formation (Miocene) and Cohansey Sand (Miocene-Oligocene) in Gloucester County contain calcareous-cemented sands and shelly marine deposits that contribute calcium and bicarbonate to the groundwater. The deeper production wells in the Glassboro area access the more mineralized, older parts of the aquifer system, producing moderately hard water with elevated TDS — harder than typical shallow Coastal Plain well supplies.

At 180.5 mg/L, Glassboro's water is moderately hard — scale builds in kettles and appliances over months, dishwashers benefit from rinse aid, and bathroom fixtures develop calcium deposits. Quarterly descaling is appropriate. The PFAS level of 13.1 ppt is very high and warrants a certified reverse osmosis drinking water filter — Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst (Ocean County NJ — a major documented AFFF site in the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer basin), Fort Dix-McGuire-Lakehurst PFAS plume, and the South Jersey manufacturing corridor (DuPont/Chemours Chambers Works Salem County) contribute to Glassboro's very elevated readings.