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Is Salem, MA tap water safe?

2 utilities serve Salem, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Massachusetts’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

1 of the 2 utilities serving Salem has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Massachusetts’s records: Pequot Highlands.

Salem Water Department, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 3.0 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

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 Salem’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in Salem Water Department’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Salem

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Massachusetts certifies.

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

  • New England Chromachem Inc.

    Salem, MA · under a mile

    Certified for organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, PFAS

    (978) 744-6600

  • Eurofins Danvers

    Danvers, MA · about 5 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (978) 777-4442

  • Biomarine Inc.

    Gloucester, MA · about 12 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (978) 281-0222

All 81 certified labs for Massachusetts

ZIP codes in Salem

Which ZIP codes are in Salem: 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 Salem

Other towns in Essex County with a page of their own.

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