Salem Water Department, MA
No lead results on file with EPA
Latest 90th-percentile lead: no result on file. The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. EPA's database has no Lead and Copper Rule results for this system. Without them there is nothing to go on, so a tap test is the only way to know.
Salem Water Department at a glance
Salem Water Department serves about 44,480 people through 10,103 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 Essex County, Massachusetts. EPA system ID: MA3258000; phone on file: 9786195673. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Other water systems in Essex County
36 other systems share Essex County. 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 | - |
| Gloucester Public Utility Division | 37,440 | 3 ppb |
| Andover Water Dept | 36,569 | 0 (not detected) |
| North Andover Water Dept | 30,915 | 1.2 ppb |
Next steps for Salem, MA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Salem, 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 Salem 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. 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.