News Release Archive
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority

mwra.com home June 8, 2001

Good News On Tap
MWRA Sending Annual Report on Water Test Results to Customers

There is good news on tap from MWRA. Quality water is delivered from the Quabbin Reservoir to your home and tested every step of the way. Consumers should know about the high quality water that they receive at the tap. To help educate consumers over the next few weeks, every household in 40 cities and towns in the MWRA water service area will receive the "2000 Report on Your Tap Water."  

This is the MWRA’s third annual Consumer Confidence Report, a consumer right-to-know report that Congress requires under the Safe Drinking Water Act. MWRA couldn’t agree more on the importance of water quality information reaching every member of the public. "With something people need and use every day, like water, they need to be able to read the label so they can make their own choices" said MWRA Executive Director Frederick A. Laskey. "We hope that all consumers will open the Tap Water Report with the girl drinking water on the cover and take the time to look at the test results" Laskey added.

The eight page report from MWRA in coordination with local water and health departments explains where the water comes from, how it is tested, what the results are, and what steps MWRA and local water departments are taking to provide high quality drinking water. Data in the report is based on thousands of tests MWRA performs each month on the water in the reservoirs and in the pipes.

The testing results for MWRA water for Year 2000 are once again excellent and demonstrate the positive changes from many of the improvements made to the water supply system. At the same time, the report very carefully describes how people with special health needs should manage their concerns over water, just as they would over food or any other consumables. It also reminds people who live in older houses that may have lead within the home’s plumbing system that while MWRA treatment has greatly reduced the lead levels at the tap, there are precautions they can take to be sure that their water is lead-free.

"We hope the information contained in this report will reinforce consumers’ confidence about the MWRA water system and the water delivered from it," Laskey said. "At less than a penny a gallon, high quality water from the tap in the MWRA service area is a smart buy."

The report also describes the long-term investments MWRA is making in the water supply system including a new treatment plant, a 17.6 mile deep rock tunnel, covered storage tanks, and extensive pipeline rehabilitation.
Copies of this report will be arriving in your mailbox shortly or you can obtain a copy by calling your local water department or by calling MWRA at (617) 242-5323.

You can also see the report on-line at Annual Water Quality Report


Communities receiving the 2000 Report on Your Tap Water:

Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Canton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Everett, Framingham, Lexington, Lynnfield, Malden, Marblehead, Marlborough, Medford, Melrose, Milton, Nahant, Needham, Newton, Norwood, Quincy, Revere, Saugus, Somerville, Southborough, South Hadley Fire District #1, Stoneham, Swampscott, Wakefield, Waltham, Watertown, Wellesley, Weston, Wilbraham, Winchester, Winthrop and Woburn