Hanover Water Dept, MA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.1 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). 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.
Hanover Water Dept at a glance
Hanover Water Dept serves about 14,984 people through 5,172 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. EPA system ID: MA4122000; phone on file: 7818263189. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
That is down 2.9 ppb from 4 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Hanover Water Dept is 7 ppb across 12 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.1 ppb |
| 2025 | 4 ppb |
| 2025 | 5 ppb |
| 2024 | 6 ppb |
| 2023 | 6 ppb |
| 2023 | 5 ppb |
| 2022 | 6 ppb |
| 2022 | 7 ppb |
| 2021 | 6 ppb |
| 2020 | 5 ppb |
| 2020 | 4 ppb |
| 2017 | 6 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. Hanover Water Dept's 1.1 ppb sits at the 36th percentile in Massachusetts and the 57th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
44 other systems share Plymouth County; 25 of them have a higher latest lead result than Hanover Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Brockton Water Department | 105,788 | 4 ppb |
| Plymouth Water Department | 47,100 | 2.5 ppb |
| Weir River Water System | 45,339 | 0 (not detected) |
| Marshfield Water Department | 34,000 | 4 ppb |
| Abington/Rockland Joint Wtr. Works | 33,387 | 4 ppb |
| Mattapoisett River Valley W.D. | 29,600 | - |
| Bridgewater Water Department | 28,633 | 3 ppb |
| Wareham Fire District | 20,102 | 2 ppb |
| Scituate Water Division | 19,297 | 2 ppb |
| Pembroke Water Division Dpw | 18,175 | 3 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Hanover, 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 Hanover 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.