Belmont Community Letter 2022

The 2022 Annual Drinking Water report provides information to residents of Belmont on their water supply. The Belmont DPW Water Division works in partnership with the MWRA to communicate where your water comes from, how it is treated, tested and how it gets to your tap.

The Water Division is engaged in an ambitious long-term Capital Improvement Program based on a comprehensive study of the water distribution system. The program, which began in 1995 and is known as the Water Main Replacement Program, is intended to replace 40% of the water mains in Belmont within a 30-year period and is segmented into yearly projects. To date, slightly more than 35 miles of aged, deteriorated and undersized water main have been replaced with new larger diameter ductile iron pipe. This work will improve both water quality and the hydraulic reliability of Belmont’s drinking water system.

In 2021, the “Hammond Road” project was completed with a total 4,831 linear feet replaced. Fiscal Year 2022 Water Main Replacement Program will include the following streets: Sycamore Rd., Chester Rd., Gorham Rd. These streets will have new 8-inch water mains with new hydrants and valves. The total for this project is 2,302 linear feet. Our Smart Meter Replacement Program is near completion. With 11,325 meters to replace, we have replaced all but 230 meters to date. We are on schedule for completion by July of 2022. Customers can monitor their daily consumption on the “Smart Hub” portal. The Water Division continues to provide high quality services to our customers. Billing for water and sewer is monthly which started in January of 2021. Other services include: 24-hour emergency response, water main and service repair, hydrant maintenance and replacement, a valve exercising program and the Cross Connection Control Program.

The Water Advisory Board continues its function to advocate and advise the Town on policies, operations management, and water and sewer billing disputes, financial practices and capital investments that will result in the sustained provision of high quality water service. The Water Advisory Board conducts public meetings throughout the year. All public meetings are posted on the calendar of the Town’s web page at: www.belmont-ma.gov, and in the Town Clerk’s Office, and Police Department.

Each year, the Water Division works with the MWRA to test for high lead and copper levels in homes. Belmont is concerned about lead in tap water. We test twenty (20) high risk homes and two (2) public schools once a year. The results for this LCR round were within regulatory limits. The 90th percentile of all sample results was 1.81 ppb for lead, well below the Action Level (AL) of 15 ppb, and 77.3 ppb for copper, against an AL of 1300 ppb. All results will be available at the Water Division.

The Water Division collects 8 water samples each week (32 per month) for total coliform bacteria throughout the distribution system. This gives the Water Division an overview of the overall health of the distribution system. The EPA requires that no more than 5% of the samples in a month may be positive. The Water Division had no positive coliform results in 2022.

The Water Division works in cooperation with the MWRA, MA Department of Environmental Protection and the US Environmental Protection Agency to continue to provide Belmont’s residents with a safe, reliable and adequate supply of drinking water. If you have any questions regarding this report or any other water quality questions, you can contact Mark Mancuso, Water Division Manager at 617-993-2707.