Northfield 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
- 800 people
- Connections
- 241
- Water source
- Groundwater
- Based in
- Northfield, MA
- County
- Franklin
- Owner
- Local government
The ZIP code it serves
The short answer
1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Uranium, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.
What handles itWhat was found
Nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride: Massachusetts’s own results, samples taken from Oct. 16, 2023 to Oct. 15, 2025, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.
Uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Aug. 14, 2012 to Aug. 14, 2012. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.
Above the health goal1
Uranium
Comes from the source
0.5ppb
Highest yearly average, 2012
Averaged by year, the highest was 0.5 ppb, in 2012: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That is the only year on file.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Uranium”
Below EPA’s limits1
Nitrate
Comes from the source
0.72ppm
Highest sample; found in 3 of 3
2025, one sample: 0.68 ppm
The highest sample, in 2023, was 0.72 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.68 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.55 ppm, in 2013.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
- Arsenic
- 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 58
Claim: Uranium
For: Uranium
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
None of the filters TapBuff has checked so far carry these claims. Search the certifier listings for the claim above.
Compare five-year costsViolations 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. Nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride results here are Massachusetts’s own from 2023 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Uranium comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Northfield Water District’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and 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 Oct. 16, 2023 to Oct. 15, 2025; EPA’s compliance samples are from Aug. 14, 2012 to Aug. 14, 2012.
Testing your own tap
The 3 labs Massachusetts certifies closest to the area Northfield Water District serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Howard Laboratories LLC
South Deerfield, MA · about 16 miles
Certified for bacteria
Nelson Analytical Lab-Keene
North Swanzey, NH · about 21 miles
Certified for bacteria
Quabbin Analytical Laboratory
Belchertown, MA · about 28 miles
Certified for bacteria
Sources
- EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data, file of Oct. 15, 2026
- EPA SDWA bulk download (SDWIS federal data), 2026 Q3
- Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Drinking Water Program, results from Jan. 2, 2020 to Oct. 5, 2026, read Oct. 8, 2026
- EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, file of Feb. 5, 2024
- Certified labs: MassDEP Online Searchable Laboratory Certification Listing, potable water, read Oct. 16, 2026; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer
- Limits and goals: each contaminant’s page, with its EPA source.
- How this page is built: methodology.
PWSID MA1217000. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.
What to do next
- Read up on UraniumWhat each one does to health, where it comes from, and the certification claim that addresses it.About Uranium
- Get the utility’s own reportNorthfield Water District must send you a water quality report every year. It covers contaminants this page does not show, and has newer results than EPA’s national file for the ones here that come from it.How to read it
- Test your own tap for leadYour service line, solder and fixtures decide the lead at your faucet, not the utility’s average.Lead in your water: what to do
- Compare certified filtersWhat the filters certified for these results cost over five years, cartridges included.Compare five-year costs