Plymouth Water Department, MA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.5 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2024). 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.
Plymouth Water Department at a glance
Plymouth Water Department serves about 47,100 people through 15,003 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 groundwater, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. EPA system ID: MA4239000; phone on file: 5088304162. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Plymouth Water Department's lead record
Against the period ending 2023 (2.5 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Plymouth Water Department is 4.4 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2.5 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.5 ppb |
| 2022 | 4.4 ppb |
| 2021 | 3.5 ppb |
| 2021 | 3 ppb |
| 2020 | 4 ppb |
| 2019 | 3 ppb |
| 2016 | 2 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. Plymouth Water Department's 2.5 ppb sits at the 64th percentile in Massachusetts and the 78th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Plymouth County
44 other systems share Plymouth County; 18 of them have a higher latest lead result than Plymouth Water Department. 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 |
| 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 |
| Duxbury Water Department | 16,387 | 4.4 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Plymouth, 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 Plymouth Water Department 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.