Nahant Water Dept. (Mwra), MA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.66 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.
About Nahant Water Dept. (Mwra)
Nahant Water Dept. (Mwra) serves about 3,334 people through 1,972 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 surface water, in Essex County, Massachusetts. EPA system ID: MA3196000; phone on file: 7815810088. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2025 (1.65 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Nahant Water Dept. (Mwra) is 10.8 ppb across 10 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.66 ppb |
| 2025 | 1.65 ppb |
| 2024 | 10.8 ppb over 10 |
| 2022 | 1.73 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.57 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.03 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.36 ppb |
| 2017 | 1.41 ppb |
| 2016 | 2.45 ppb |
| 2016 | 3.6 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. Nahant Water Dept. (Mwra)'s 1.66 ppb sits at the 49th percentile in Massachusetts and the 66th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
36 other systems share Essex County; 13 of them have a higher latest lead result than Nahant Water Dept. (Mwra). 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) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Nahant, 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 Nahant Water Dept. (Mwra) 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.