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Manchaug Water District of Sutton

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
476 people
Connections
174
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Sutton, MA
County
Worcester
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Varies by source
The ZIP code it serves

01590

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2014 to 2024.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 2.3 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2014. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, nitrate and chromium (total): Massachusetts’s own results, samples taken from May 19, 2020 to Aug. 12, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

2.0ppb

90th percentile, 2022 to 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 2.0 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

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.5 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 2.0 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its four samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.3 ppb, in 2012.

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 limits4

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

66ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 54 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 66 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 54 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 53 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

24ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 24 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 26 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 17 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.25ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.25 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.4 ppm. In 2024, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its four samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.41 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.17ppm

Highest sample; found in 15 of 28

2026 average: 0.025 ppm

The highest sample, in 2023, was 0.17 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 0.025 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.17 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

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

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: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

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

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

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Hardness

Soft to moderately hard depending on the source, 18 to 88 mg/L (1.1 to 5.1 grains per gallon), across 4 sampling points, 2015 to 2025.

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), fluoride, nitrate and chromium (total) results here are Massachusetts’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Manchaug Water District of Sutton’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 May 19, 2020 to Aug. 12, 2026.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Pace Analytical LLC-Westborough

    Westborough, MA · about 12 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (508) 898-9220

  • Proverde Environmental, Inc.

    Milford, MA · about 12 miles

    Certified for PFAS

    (617) 221-3356

  • Eurofins-Worcester

    Worcester, MA · about 13 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (401) 461-7181

All 81 certified labs for Massachusetts

Sources

PWSID MA2290001. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Worcester County

All Massachusetts utilities

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