Somerville Community Letter 2022

The City of Somerville Water Department, in conjunction with the MWRA, is pleased to provide this annual newsletter to inform all Somerville residents about our water distribution system and water quality. We are happy to report that our drinking water meets all federal and state requirements. By continuing to comply with these strict regulations, the Somerville Water Department can be confident in the quality of our drinking water.

The City purchases treated water from the MWRA. The water is delivered through seven MWRA master meters into the City’s distribution system. The system consists of pipes, valves, hydrants, and service lines, which deliver the water to homes, businesses, and other facilities for drinking and other uses such as fire protection.

Somerville’s distribution system consists of approximately 125 miles of water mains ranging from 4 to 20 inches in diameter, much of which was installed in the late 1800s to early 1900s. To maintain and protect the system the Water Department exercises gate valves, flushes water mains utilizing fire hydrants, maintains and replaces fire hydrants, oversees construction projects such as rehabilitation and replacement of older unlined water mains, service line repair and installations, and coordinates a comprehensive cross connection control program. The Water Department, with assistance from our on-call contractor, replaced 32 fire hydrants, 10 gate valves, and exercised approximately 250 gate valves to improve system reliability. The Spring Hill Project has replaced approximately 6000 linear feet of high and low service water main and replaced 17 gate valves and 15 hydrants. The Ward 2 Sewer and water main rehab project has replaced 85 linear feet of high service water main and replaced two gate valves. During the summer of 2022, we exercised 300 gate valves in our hydrant flushing program and flushed over 100 hydrants to maintain water quality. The program resulted in a list of faulty gates that were repaired or replaced.

Somerville monitors the drinking water for specific contaminants of concern on a regular basis. We collect weekly samples at 21 different locations throughout the distribution system. The samples are analyzed for temperature, chlorine residual, and the presence of total coliform bacteria. A total of 1017 samples were collected and tested for total coliform and E. coli bacteria. Somerville met all regulatory targets each month.

All public water suppliers are required by the DEP to regularly test for lead and copper as required by the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). Somerville tests water taps in 20 houses and 2 schools from a DEP-approved list of locations. The 90th percentile result was 6.62 ppb, under the Action Level of 15 ppb. The copper 90th percentile result was 70.8, compared to the Action Level of 1300 ppb. The system is in compliance with the LCR. We have taken advantage of the “Lead Service Replacement Program” offered by the MWRA, and we replaced a total of 119 lead services using a combination of the program and routine maintenance this year. As of the start of 2023, we believe there were 219 lead services remaining and we are projected to replace 100 lead services this year. We will continue to focus on removing lead services from the system to improve water quality.

The City of Somerville’s Water Department continues to focus on providing outstanding water quality and service reliability. Should you have questions or concerns about whether you have a lead service line or have a question about the City’s water distribution system, the Water Department is available to help. To report a problem please use the Somerville 311 system. For general inquiries or to learn about public meetings you can call us at 617-625- 6600, ext. 5850, email us at water@somervillema.gov, or you can also visit the Water Department web page at: www.somervillema.gov.