Wellesley College, MA
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 4.3 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. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
Who runs the water here
Wellesley College serves about 3,000 people through 62 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. EPA system ID: MA3317001; phone on file: 7812834000. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Wellesley College's lead record
That is down 2.4 ppb from 6.7 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Wellesley College is 44.3 ppb across 13 monitoring periods, 2 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 4.3 ppb |
| 2025 | 6.7 ppb |
| 2025 | 6.9 ppb |
| 2024 | 3.3 ppb |
| 2024 | 5.7 ppb |
| 2023 | 10.2 ppb over 10 |
| 2023 | 12 ppb over 10 |
| 2022 | 14.2 ppb over 10 |
| 2022 | 12.7 ppb over 10 |
| 2021 | 44.3 ppb over 15 |
| 2021 | 10.2 ppb over 10 |
| 2020 | 16.9 ppb over 15 |
| 2019 | 9.5 ppb |
How Wellesley College 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. Wellesley College's 4.3 ppb sits at the 81st percentile in Massachusetts and the 89th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
38 other systems share Norfolk County; 9 of them have a higher latest lead result than Wellesley College. 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 |
| Needham Water Dept | 31,664 | 2 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Wellesley, 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 Wellesley College 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. Why an old exceedance still matters: over the limit before, under it now.