Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge Water Department 2024 CCR. Calcium 18.1 ppm is printed; total hardness as CaCO3 is not. Chlorine as monochloramine 2.39 ppm (0.78–3.05). No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up.
- Monochloramine2.39 ppm (0.78–3.05)
Best match for Cambridge
Whole-house catalytic carbon for chloramine
No district prohibition on a brine drain turned up in the current file.
Catalytic carbon with a chloramine claim (NSF/ANSI 42 for chloramine). Regular chlorine carbon is the wrong box.
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Other options that still fit
Confirm hardness on the current CCR before buying
Open the current CCR for grains. This file does not invent a number from a ranking site. A salt softener needs a drain if it is legal at the address.
Shop salt-based softenersShop salt-free conditionersShop water test kits
Under-sink reverse osmosis
The under-sink RO we actually run is Cloud RO — NSF/ANSI 58, kitchen tap, not a whole-house tank. Check the exact listing if PFAS is why you are shopping. Shop Amazon first for under-sink RO, or buy Cloud direct. Waterdrop is a tankless option if you want that path. A certifier-listed pitcher is the cheap first step. Nobody is paying for a medical claim.
Shop under-sink reverse osmosisBuy Cloud RO directShop Waterdrop reverse osmosisShop PFAS-listed pitchers
Test the tap first
A homeowner kit is a start. It is not a state-certified lab. Use a certified lab when the decision is expensive.
On the report
- Water utility
- Cambridge Water Department
- Hardness
- The 2024 CCR prints calcium 18.1 ppm (single sample). It does not print total hardness as CaCO3. This file does not invent hardness from the calcium row. — Cambridge Water Department 2024 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
- Disinfectant
- Chlorine (as monochloramine) 2.39 ppm (range 0.78–3.05), MRDL 4, 2024. — Cambridge Water Department 2024 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
- Brine / salt to the sewer
- No district prohibition found in current research. Searched city water and sewer pages for a residential self-regenerating softener or brine-drain ban like LACSD Measure S. None turned up. Ask the sewer agency on the bill before you cut a brine drain.
Also around here
Extra context besides the utility report and the chart above — geology, an unregulated table, or a published study. Not a second set of printed tap numbers.
- MicroplasticsWHO’s 2019 review examined studies that found microplastic particles in treated tap and bottled water in many places. That is a published-occurrence finding, not a number from this city’s water-quality report, and we do not invent a particles-per-liter count for the tap.Microplastics in drinking-water — World Health Organization
- PFASEPA’s Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule required community systems this size to test 29 PFAS and lithium in 2023–2025. Open the UCMR 5 Data Finder for this PWS. This file does not invent a detection.Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cambridge drinking water on this file is Cambridge Water Department, PWS 3049000. Searched city water and sewer pages for a residential self-regenerating softener or brine-drain ban like LACSD Measure S. None turned up. Ask the sewer agency on the bill before you cut a brine drain. This is not a legal opinion.
The 2024 report does not print total hardness as CaCO3 (calcium 18.1 ppm is printed; we do not convert it). Chlorine as monochloramine 2.39 ppm (0.78–3.05). Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.
Sources
- 2024 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (PWS 3049000) — Cambridge Water Department. Accessed 2026-09-11.
Updated September 11, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.