Needham Water Dept, MA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 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
Needham Water Dept serves about 31,664 people through 10,294 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 Norfolk County, Massachusetts. EPA system ID: MA3199000; phone on file: 7814557550. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Needham Water Dept's lead record
That is down 3 ppb from 5 ppb in the period ending 2018. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Needham Water Dept is 5 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2018 | 5 ppb |
| 2017 | 3 ppb |
How Needham Water Dept 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. Needham Water Dept's 2 ppb sits at the 58th percentile in Massachusetts and the 73rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Norfolk County
38 other systems share Norfolk County; 16 of them have a higher latest lead result than Needham Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Tri Town Water Board | 856,000 | - |
| Quincy Water Dept. (Mwra) | 106,000 | 14.4 ppb |
| Brookline Water And Sewer Division | 63,191 | 2 ppb |
| Weymouth Water Department | 57,871 | 1.2 ppb |
| Randolph/Holbrook Joint Water Board | 46,519 | - |
| Dedham Westwood Water Dist. | 41,630 | 2 ppb |
| Braintree Water And Sewer Dept. | 39,143 | 4.8 ppb |
| Randolph Water Department | 35,114 | 3 ppb |
| Franklin Water Department | 33,706 | 5 ppb |
| Norwood Water Dept. (Mwra) | 29,909 | 7 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Needham, 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 Needham 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. 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.