City Water Treatment
City Water Treatment in Massachusetts
Your town treats the water to a legal standard. That standard stops at the property line, not at your glass.
At a glance
City Water Treatment- MA PFAS6 limit20 ng/L
- Arsenic MCL10 ppb
- Lead action level15 ppb
- CCR publishedAnnually
Figures are typical ranges for Massachusetts installations. Your system is specified from your own test results.
Municipal water is regulated. That's not the same as ideal.
Every public water system in Massachusetts is tested routinely and has to publish an annual Consumer Confidence Report with its actual numbers, including six PFAS compounds against the state's combined 20 parts-per-trillion standard. That is real oversight and it works. But a regulatory limit is a ceiling that a utility must stay under — it is not a promise that nothing is present, and it says nothing about what happens to the water after it leaves the main and travels through your service line and your building's plumbing.
The two things city water actually leaves you
First, disinfectant. Chlorine or chloramine has to stay in the water all the way to the last house on the line, which is exactly why you taste it. Removing it at the point of entry is the single most noticeable improvement most municipal customers make. Second, your own plumbing. MWRA water leaves the reservoirs essentially lead free and is treated with soda ash and CO2 to raise pH and reduce corrosivity — which has cut lead levels sharply since the 1990s. Lead in Massachusetts tap water is a building problem, not a reservoir problem, and it is handled at the house.
Start with the free document
Before anyone quotes you equipment, pull your town's Consumer Confidence Report. It costs nothing, it's published every year, and it tells you your disinfectant type, your hardness, your PFAS6 result and your lead and copper sampling. We read it with you at the free test and confirm the numbers at your tap. Often it means the sensible recommendation is smaller and cheaper than you were expecting — particularly in MWRA communities, where the water arrives about as soft as water gets.
How it goes
Test first. Quote second. Install third.
In that order, every time. It is the only way to know whether you need a three-thousand-dollar system or a two-hundred-dollar one.
Free in-home water test
We measure hardness in grains per gallon, pH, chlorine or chloramine, iron and total dissolved solids at your tap, and look at your plumbing, water heater and any existing equipment. About 45 minutes, no obligation. Where it's warranted, PFAS, arsenic, radon and bacteria go to a MassDEP-certified laboratory — quoted before any sample is taken.
Straight answers, in writing
Every number read against its standard, what it means for your house, and what we'd do about it. Including the cases where the answer is that you don't need anything from us — which in MWRA communities happens often.
Installed, tested, and proven
Licensed, insured, permitted where your town requires it, and sequenced correctly: sediment, oxidation, softening, specialty media, then UV. We re-test after commissioning, because a system nobody verified is a hope rather than a treatment.
Straight answers
City Water Treatment — common questions
If the town says the water is safe, why filter it?
Safe and pleasant aren't the same thing, and the town's responsibility ends at your property line. Most municipal customers filter for taste and chlorine removal, and add reverse osmosis at the kitchen tap for lead from their own plumbing. That's a smaller job than a well system.
Where do I find my Consumer Confidence Report?
Your water department publishes it annually, usually on the town website, and MassDEP links to public water system records. Bring it to the appointment — reading it together is part of the free test.
Do I need a softener on city water?
In MWRA communities, almost certainly not — that supply runs about one grain per gallon. Outside MWRA, towns pumping local groundwater can be genuinely hard and a softener may be worth it. The measurement settles it, not the sales pitch.
Free in-home water test
Let's find out whether you actually need this
The in-home test is free, takes about 45 minutes, and ends with a written report — including the parts where the answer is that you don't need anything from us.
- Hardness in grains per gallon, pH, chlorine or chloramine, iron and TDS — measured at your tap.
- PFAS, arsenic, radon and bacteria through a MassDEP-certified laboratory, quoted before any sample is taken.
- Every number read against its standard, in writing, with no obligation.
Request your test
2 minutesWe'll be in touch shortly to confirm a time for your free in-home water test. If it's urgent, call (508) 686-1582 and we'll pick up.