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Byfield Water District

What EPA’s and Massachusetts’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
2,228 people
Connections
857
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Newbury, MA
County
Essex
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Varies by source
The ZIP code it serves

01922

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, chromium (total) and fluoride: Massachusetts’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 30, 2020 to Aug. 6, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

5.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 3.7 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.8 ppb, in 2023: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 8.0 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 3.7 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 7.0 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

55.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 47 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 55.5 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 59 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 47 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 47 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

9.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 8.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 9.1 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 10 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 8.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 13 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.69ppm

Highest sample; found in 8 of 12

2026, one sample: 0.47 ppm

The highest sample, in 2021, was 0.69 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.47 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.7 ppm, in 2018.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Chromium (total)
  • Fluoride
  • Lead

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

At the tap, or for the whole house?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Hardness

Hard to very hard depending on the source, 125 to 194 mg/L (7.3 to 11.3 grains per gallon), across 3 sampling points, 2015 to 2026.

Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.

Softeners compared, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Massachusetts water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There is 1 monitoring or reporting violation: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, chromium (total) and fluoride results here are Massachusetts’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Byfield Water District’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 didn’t sample this utility; Massachusetts’s results run from Jan. 30, 2020 to Aug. 6, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Byfield Water District’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab Massachusetts certifies.

The 3 labs Massachusetts certifies closest to the area Byfield Water District serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Eurofins Danvers

    Danvers, MA · about 13 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (978) 777-4442

  • Biomarine Inc.

    Gloucester, MA · about 15 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (978) 281-0222

  • New England Chromachem Inc.

    Salem, MA · about 16 miles

    Certified for organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, PFAS

    (978) 744-6600

All 81 certified labs for Massachusetts

Sources

PWSID MA3205001. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Essex County

All Massachusetts utilities

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