MWRA - Drinking Water Test Results 2021

While the pandemic continued to impact health and supply lines in 2021, MWRA’s drinking water continued to meet all federal and state standards. MWRA staff carried out ongoing, uninterrupted treatment, sampling, testing, planning, and monitoring to ensure the continuous delivery of pure drinking water to all our customers. This annual water quality report illustrates MWRA’s ongoing efforts to ensure the provision of your water under all conditions.

At the Water Source…
MWRA works with your community, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), and state and federal regulators to continuously evaluate your drinking water. From the reservoirs surrounded by forests and wetlands, through treatment and miles of pipelines, to your drinking water faucet. MWRA’s laboratories conduct hundreds of thousands of tests on the water you receive every year for over 120 potential contaminants.

MWRA’s work to protect the drinking water at your home or business starts with our two pristine reservoirs in central Massachusetts — the Quabbin Reservoir, 65 miles from Boston, and the Wachusett Reservoir, 35 miles from Boston. Combined, these two connected reservoirs provide an average of 200 million gallons of pure, highly protected, high quality water each day to 53 communities. The Ware River provides additional water when needed.

The Quabbin and Wachusett watersheds—areas that drain water to the reservoirs—are naturally protected. More than 85% of the watersheds are covered with forests and wetlands, which filter the rain and snow that enters the streams that flow to the reservoirs. This water comes in contact with soil, rock, plants, and other material as it follows its natural path to the reservoirs. This process helps to clean the water, but it also can dissolve and carry very small amounts of material into the reservoir. Minerals and rock do not typically cause problems in the water. Water can also transport contaminants, including bacteria, viruses or other potential pathogens, from human and animal activity, that can cause illness. Testing results show few contaminants are found in the reservoir water. The few that are detected are in very small amounts that are well below EPA’s standards.

MWRA and DCR maintain a nationally recognized watershed protection program. The Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Source Water Assessment report for the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs commended DCR and MWRA for our source water protection plans. The report states that our “watershed protection programs are very successful and greatly reduce the actual risk of contamination.” MWRA and DCR follow the report recommendations to maintain the pristine watershed areas. For more information on our source water, go to: www.mwra.com/sourcewater.html.

Testing to the Tap
MWRA analyzes, treats and protects the quality of your water from its source to your home or business, starting with the watershed streams, to hundreds of miles of MWRA pipes and thousands of miles of local pipes, all the way to your home. MWRA testing shows that few contaminants are found in the water from our reservoirs. All were well below EPA’s standards in 2021.

A key, initial test for reservoir water quality is turbidity, or cloudiness. Turbidity refers to the amount of suspended particles in the water and can impair water disinfection. All water must be below 5 NTU (nephelometric turbidity units), and water can only be above 1 NTU if it does not interfere with effective disinfection. In 2021, typical levels in the Wachusett Reservoir were 0.29 NTU, with the highest level of turbidity at 0.61 NTU, well below the standard.

MWRA also tests water for potential disease-causing organisms, including fecal coliform bacteria, and parasites such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium, that can enter the water from animal or human waste. All test results for the reservoir water were well within state and federal testing and treatment standards.

Learn more about MWRA testing for waterborne contaminants and their potential health impacts on our website at: www.mwra.com.

Treating Your Water
Water Downstream of the reservoirs, MWRA’s John J. Carroll Water Treatment Plant in Marlborough provides state-of-the-art treatment and monitoring of your water. Our well trained and licensed operators add measured doses of treatment chemicals.

Water Monitoring After Treatment
EPA and state regulations require regular monitoring of water quality tests to evaluate the water you drink. MWRA conducts hundreds of thousands of tests per year on over 120 contaminants. A complete list is available on www.mwra.com. The results of MWRA’s water quality tests in 2021 are shown in the table on page 2. They confirm the quality and safety of the water your community receives from MWRA.

Continuous Service + Redundancy = Reliability
Maintaining system redundancy allows us to continue uninterrupted water delivery to your community, even if sections of our system need inspection, repair or rehabilitation. Planning and environmental review for two new tunnels north and south of Boston to provide reliable service to the entire region is well underway. We also have major projects underway to rehabilitate the Weston Aqueduct Supply Main 3, a 60-inch pipe in Weston, Waltham, Belmont, Arlington and Medford, as well as a 48-inch pipe in Stoneham and Woburn. See www.mwra.com for more info.

MWRA provides zero–interest loans to communities for pipeline rehabilitation and other water quality improvements. During 2021, we loaned $28 million to 18 communities for pipeline projects and $11 million to 8 communities for lead service line replacements.

Monitoring All Day, Every Day
MWRA’s monitoring systems are in operation continuously, 24/7/365. The systems help us evaluate your water before and after treatment. They also help us determine if the water is free of contaminants, and to respond rapidly to changes or issues related to water quality.

Lead can be found in your home, including plumbing and your drinking water. Learn about the health impacts of lead, and how to reduce exposure to this toxic metal on the following pages.

How Lead Affects Health and Development
Lead affects young children, and may cause damage to the brain, slow growth and development, and learning and behavior problems. Preventing lead exposure is particularly important if a pregnant woman or a child lives in your home or apartment. Lead can also impact the health of your entire family. While lead poisoning frequently comes from exposure to lead paint dust or chips, lead in drinking water can also contribute to chronic, total lead exposure

Important Lead Information From EPA
If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead in drinking water comes primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. MWRA is responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components. If your water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 or www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

How Lead Can Enter Your Water
Lead in your home plumbing or a lead service line can contribute to elevated lead levels in the water you drink. MWRA’s water is lead-free when it leaves our reservoirs. Distribution pipes that carry the water to your community are made mostly of iron and steel, and do not add lead to the water. Lead can enter your tap water from your service line (the line that connects your home to the water main) if it is made of lead, lead solder used in plumbing, or from some older faucets.

Corrosion, or wearing away of lead-based materials can add lead to tap water, especially if water sits for a long time in the pipes before it is used. MWRA’s corrosion control program helps limit the amount of lead in your water. In 1996, MWRA began adding sodium carbonate and carbon dioxide to adjust the water’s pH and buffering capacity. This treatment makes the water less corrosive and reduces leaching of lead into drinking water. Lead levels found in sample tests of tap water have dropped by nearly 90% since this treatment change. Learn more about lead in drinking water at www.mwra.com.

MWRA Meets Lead Standard in 2021
Under EPA/DEP rules, MWRA and your local water department are required to test tap water each year. We collect samples from homes with lead service lines or lead solder. The EPA rule requires that 9 out of 10 homes tested must have lead levels below the Action Level of 15 parts per billion (ppb).

This testing process can provide information on whether lead is corroding and mixing with the drinking water. It also provides communities and homeowners with information on how to reduce lead in their drinking water. The results do not reflect lead levels in all homes.

All sampling rounds over the past 18 years have been below the EPA Action Level. Nine out of ten homes were below 8.56 ppb—well below the Action Level.

Five communities—Boston, Malden, Medford, Melrose and Winthrop—were above the lead Action Level in September 2021. Your community letter will provide you with local results and more information.

Lead Service Lines
A service line connects your home or building to the water main in the street. If yours is made of lead, it can be the main source of lead in your tap water. Older pipes that combined galvanized iron and lead connectors (“goosenecks”) can also release lead. Lead services lines should be removed entirely to prevent lead in your drinking water.

Replacing Lead Service Lines
Your local water department can help find out if you have a lead service line, and provide help in replacing it. In some cases, an onsite check is necessary to determine the specific piping to your building.

You can also see if your service line is made of lead by scratching the pipe near your water meter with a key or other metal object. Lead pipes will show a dull grey color, while copper pipes will not. For an online how-to guide, go to www.epa.gov/pyt.

MWRA Funding to Replace Lead Service Lines
MWRA and its Advisory Board offer zero-interest loans to customer communities for full lead service line replacement projects. Each MWRA community can develop its own local plan, and many communities have already taken steps to remove lead service lines. To find out more, contact your local water department.

Remove Lead Piping
Find out if you have a lead service line or lead components in your plumbing. Learn about options for removal of this piping from your local water department.

Other Measures for Lead Reduction

How to Test Your Drinking Water
If you are concerned about lead piping in your home, contact your local water department about testing for lead in your drinking water. MWRA also maintains a list of certified laboratories and sampling instructions on our website at www.mwra.com. You may also call MWRA at 617-242-5323.

Lead Testing in Schools
Children can consume most of their drinking water at school or daycare. The plumbing inside some schools and childcare facilities can contain lead and contribute to lead exposure. MWRA, in coordination with DEP, provides no-cost lab analysis and technical assistance for schools and day care centers in MWRA communities. This service has been offered since 2016, and nearly all MWRA communities have participated. To date, more than 39,000 tests have been completed in more than 530 schools. Results are available on the MassDEP website at: www.mass.gov/dep (search for “lead in schools”). You may also contact your local school or water department for results.

MWRA works with local water departments to sample and test 300-500 water samples each week for total coliform bacteria. Total coliform bacteria can come from the intestines of warm blooded animals, or can be found in soil, plants, or other places. Most of the time, they are not harmful. However, their presence could signal that harmful bacteria from fecal waste may be there as well. If total coliform is detected in more than 5% of samples in a month, the water system is required to investigate the possible source and fix any identified problems. If a water sample does test positive, we run a more specific test for E. coli, which is a bacteria found in human and animal fecal waste and may cause illness. If your community was required to do an investigation, or found E. coli, it will be in the letter from your community.

Important Research for New Regulations
MWRA works with EPA and health research organizations to help define new national drinking water standards by collecting data on water contaminants that are not yet regulated. Very few of these potential contaminants are found in MWRA water due to our source water protection efforts. Information on this testing, as well as data on PFAS, disinfection by-products, Giardia and Cryptosporidium, and other contaminants can be found at www.mwra.com.

MWRA Monitoring for PFAS
PFAS compounds, used since the 1950s for many purposes from stain and water proofing to firefighting, continue to be a concern. In 2020, MassDEP published a drinking water standard for PFAS. MWRA water is now tested for 6 different PFAS compounds or “PFAS6.” Tests of MWRA water show only trace amounts of these compounds, well below the state standard of 20 parts per trillion. See www.mwra.com.

Important Health Information: Drinking Water and People with Weakened Immune Systems

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immuno-compromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants, can be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791).

Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791) or MWRA. In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the Massachusetts DEP and the EPA prescribe regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health.

Cross-Connection Information
A cross-connection is any temporary or permanent connection between a potable (drinking) water source and a non-potable source. Non-potable water or other sources can contaminate your drinking water if backflow occurs.

Massachusetts DEP recommends the installation of backflow prevention devices for inside and outside hose connections to help protect the water in your home as well as the drinking water system in your town. For more information on cross-connections, please call 617-242-5323 or visit www.mwra.com.

Continue to Conserve
MWRA water use has dropped by over a third since the 1980s. It’s up to all of us to continue to use water wisely. Every drop is valuable. Our website has many tips on how to save water indoors and outside.

Your Community Letter:

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Town of Milton
Department of Public Works
629 Randolph Avenue, Milton, MA 02186
Tel: 617-898-4900 Fax: 617-698-1290

Public Water Supply
# 3189000

Dear Milton Resident:

The enclosed annual consumer confidence report provides important information pertaining to the quality of water supplied by the Town of Milton, in partnership with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021. The MWRA is the only source of water distributed by the Town of Milton. Milton used an average of 2.37 million gallons of water daily in 2021.

The Town of Milton’s water distribution system is comprised of over 130 miles of water mains, 1,200 fire hydrants, 2,300 gate valves and nearly 9,000 water services. The system takes water from the MWRA delivering water to homes, businesses, and other facilities for drinking water and commercial use. The system is also used to provide fire protection. The Town is constantly improving our system by performing annual leak detection surveys to reduce water waste, and by daily review of the security of the water system facilities. The Public Works Department crews are continuously performing maintenance activities to ensure the reliability of our water system.

The good news is that Milton continues to provide clean, safe quality drinking water for the daily essential needs of our residential and commercial customers, in conformity with stringent state and federal regulations. In 2021, we invested $1,950,000 in the water system, including water main replacement on various streets throughout Town. These improvements will enable us to continue to provide reliable water distribution and fire protection.

The results of the September 2021 testing required for the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) indicated that the Town of Milton once again achieved its goal of staying under the 15 ppb (parts per billion) Action Level for lead, with a 90th percentile result of 13.3 ppb, and under the 1300 ppb action level for copper, with a 90th percentile result of 144 ppb.

MWRA and Milton routinely test 8 to 10 water samples each week for total coliform bacteria to monitor the water quality in the distribution system. The EPA and MassDEP require that no more than one of the samples taken in any one-month period may be positive. Milton had no positive test results for total coliform in 2021, and there were no violations of the Total Coliform Rule (TCR).

The Milton DPW oversees a Cross Connection Control Program for all industrial, commercial, municipal, and institutional facilities. We have a certified backflow tester and cross connection control surveyor on our staff, and all surveying and testing is performed in accordance with the cross-connection section (310 CMR 22.22) of the Mass Drinking Water Regulations.

Residents should be aware that pollution can come from their own homes. For instance, if you were planning to spray fertilizer on your lawn, you might hook your hose to the sprayer that contains the fertilizer. If the water pressure were to suddenly drop due to a water main break or fire hydrant use in Town, the fertilizer could be siphoned back into the drinking water pipes through the hose. Using an attachment on your hose called a backflow prevention device can prevent this problem. The Public Works Department recommends that homeowners install backflow devices, such as hose bib vacuum breakers, for all inside and outside hose connections.

If you have any questions or comments on your water, or would like more information on public meetings, please visit our website: www.townofmilton. orgor call us at 617-898-4900.

Sincerely,
The Milton Public Works Department