Hamilton Water Dept, MA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.7 ppb (monitoring period 2025-2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
About Hamilton Water Dept
Hamilton Water Dept serves about 7,674 people through 2,567 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Essex County, Massachusetts. EPA system ID: MA3119000; phone on file: 9786265226. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Hamilton Water Dept's lead record
Against the period ending 2024 (2.1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Hamilton Water Dept is 5.1 ppb across 10 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.7 ppb |
| 2024 | 2.1 ppb |
| 2023 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.5 ppb |
| 2022 | 4.6 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.4 ppb |
| 2019 | 1.4 ppb |
| 2018 | 5.1 ppb |
| 2017 | 2.1 ppb |
| 2016 | 1.8 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 535 Massachusetts systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.7 ppb; 13 are over 15 ppb right now and 66 have gone over at some point. Hamilton Water Dept's 2.7 ppb sits at the 66th percentile in Massachusetts and the 79th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
36 other systems share Essex County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Hamilton Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Lynn Water And Sewer Comm | 101,253 | 2.4 ppb |
| Salem And Beverly Water Supply Board | 90,330 | 1.7 ppb |
| Lawrence Water Works | 89,143 | 0 (not detected) |
| Haverhill Water Dept | 61,277 | 0 (not detected) |
| Peabody Water Dept. | 54,481 | 4.18 ppb |
| Methuen Water Dept | 53,059 | 1.6 ppb |
| Beverly Water Dept | 47,461 | - |
| Salem Water Department | 44,480 | - |
| Gloucester Public Utility Division | 37,440 | 3 ppb |
| Andover Water Dept | 36,569 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Hamilton, MA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Hamilton, MA may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Hamilton Water Dept whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.