Is Cheshire, MA tap water safe?
The short answer
None of the 3 utilities serving Cheshire has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Massachusetts’s records.
Cheshire Water Dept, which serves the most people here, has nothing above a health goal in EPA’s and Massachusetts’s records. That data covers what its report lists, not everything.
The water from Cheshire Water Dept is very hard, 216 mg/L (12.6 grains per gallon). How Massachusetts’s water compares.
A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Cheshire’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Cheshire Water Dept
Massachusetts · serves 1,407 people · under 100 in Cheshire
Nothing in its records is above a health goal. Hardness: very hard, 216 mg/L (12.6 grains per gallon).
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Hutchinson Water LLC
Massachusetts · serves 400 people · under 100 in Cheshire
1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 0.6 ppb, above the health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Berkshire Estates
Massachusetts · serves 180 people · under 100 in Cheshire
1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 2.5 ppb, above the health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Cheshire
The 3 labs Massachusetts certifies closest to Cheshire, 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 19 miles
Certified for bacteria
Howard Laboratories LLC
South Deerfield, MA · about 28 miles
Certified for bacteria
Capital Region Environmental Laboratory
Rensselaer, NY · about 29 miles
Certified for bacteria
ZIP codes in Cheshire
Which ZIP codes are in Cheshire: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: MassDEP Online Searchable Laboratory Certification Listing, potable water; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.
Near Cheshire
Other towns in Berkshire County with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Cheshire Water Dept’s full reportEvery result with its dates, the violations, and the certification claim that handles each finding.Open the report
- Decide if you want a filter at allA filter for taste or chlorine is a preference, not a need. The standards say what each kind can do.NSF/ANSI standards, decoded
- On a private well?No utility tests a well. A certified lab test is the first step.How to test well water