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Chester Water Dept

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
750 people
Connections
250
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Chester, MA
County
Hampden
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Soft
The ZIP code it serves

01011

The short answer

2 results are above EPA’s legal limit, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the legal limit. 12 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2009 to 2020.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.7 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2009. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride: Massachusetts’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 18, 2020 to Aug. 20, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

104ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 35.7 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 104 ppb, in 2021, above EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 169 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 35.7 ppb. EPA recorded violations for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility in 2020 and 2024. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 83.3 ppb, in 2018, and EPA recorded violations in 2018 and 2019.

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

Above the legal limit

68.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 20.7 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 68.9 ppb, in 2022, above EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 112 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 20.7 ppb. EPA recorded a violation for haloacetic acids (HAA5) at this utility in 2024. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 33.5 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

4.7ppb

90th percentile, 2018 to 2020

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 4.7 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits1

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.13ppm

Highest sample; found in 6 of 7

2026, one sample: 0.06 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 0.13 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.06 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.15 ppm, in 2012.

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.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Fluoride

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

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: VOC Reduction

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Lead

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. 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 water filters for lead, ranked

Hardness

Soft, 12 mg/L (0.7 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, in 2020.

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 at 0.7 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Massachusetts water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2024—Archived
Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment RuleRequired treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR)July 1, 2024 to July 31, 2024—Archived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024—Archived
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024—Archived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020—Archived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020—Archived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2019—Archived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2019—Archived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2019 to March 31, 2019—Archived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2018—Archived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2018 to Sept. 30, 2018—Resolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2018 to June 30, 2018—Archived
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 39 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride results here are Massachusetts’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Chester Water Dept’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 Feb. 18, 2020 to Aug. 20, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Chester Water Dept’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 Chester Water Dept serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Microbac Laboratories Inc.

    Lee, MA · about 13 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (413) 776-5025

  • Howard Laboratories LLC

    South Deerfield, MA · about 22 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (413) 247-5533

  • Vallid Labs Inc.

    Agawam, MA · about 23 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (413) 789-2206

All 81 certified labs for Massachusetts

Sources

PWSID MA1059000. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Hampden County

All Massachusetts utilities

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