Hampden Housing Authority, MA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.8 ppb (monitoring period 2018-2020). 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.
Who runs the water here
Hampden Housing Authority serves about 59 people through 57 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by the state and draws groundwater, in Hampden County, Massachusetts. EPA system ID: MA1120002; phone on file: 4135668157. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Hampden Housing Authority's lead record
That is down 1.25 ppb from 2.05 ppb in the period ending 2018. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Hampden Housing Authority is 2.4 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 0.8 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.05 ppb |
| 2016 | 2.4 ppb |
How Hampden Housing Authority compares
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. Hampden Housing Authority's 0.8 ppb sits at the 28th percentile in Massachusetts and the 47th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Hampden County
26 other systems share Hampden County; 22 of them have a higher latest lead result than Hampden Housing Authority. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Springfield Water And Sewer Commission | 169,170 | 3.5 ppb |
| Chicopee Water Dept (Mwra) | 55,560 | 1.5 ppb |
| Westfield Dpwwater Division | 41,094 | 2.7 ppb |
| Holyoke Water Works | 37,838 | 9 ppb |
| West Springfield Dpw Water Division | 28,835 | 1.6 ppb |
| Agawam Water Department | 28,692 | 1.5 ppb |
| East Longmeadow Dpw Water Dept | 16,358 | 1.4 ppb |
| Longmeadow Water Dept | 15,853 | 1.8 ppb |
| Wilbraham Water Dept (Mwra) | 8,533 | 5.63 ppb |
| Southwick Water Dept | 7,669 | 2.6 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Hampden, 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 Hampden Housing Authority 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.