Everett, Massachusetts
Everett Water Quality
MWRA reservoir water through Everett's own pipes. The City's 2025 letter shows lead at 5.67 ppb at the 90th percentile — but a range that reached 874 ppb — and 411 lead services replaced at no cost through the end of 2025.
Lead 5.67 ppb at the 90th percentile · high sample 874 ppb · 411 lead services replaced.
The short answer
Everett drinks MWRA water from the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs, disinfected with chloramine. Its 2025 lead result was 5.67 ppb at the 90th percentile — under the 15 ppb action level — with one of 20 samples over the limit and a high reading of 874 ppb.
The City replaces lead services on both sides at no cost, roughly 200–300 a year, and had replaced 411 through the end of 2025. Check your line on the City inventory map first; a tap test then tells you whether your house sits near the median or near the high end.
Get a free test
Tell us your Everett address. We confirm coverage first, then schedule a licensed technician to test at your tap — no charge, no obligation.
What filtration does — and does not
Softening, carbon and reverse osmosis solve different problems. A filter is not a substitute for replacing a lead service line.
Where Everett water comes from
The same reservoirs as Boston, through Everett's own pipes.
Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs
Everett purchases all of its water directly from the MWRA, whose sources are the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs in central and western Massachusetts.
Treated by MWRA before it arrives
MWRA treats the water at the John J. Carroll Water Treatment Plant in Marlborough, including pH and alkalinity adjustment to reduce lead corrosion and monochloramine disinfection.
Then Everett's own distribution
About 70 miles of City mains (2 to 24 inches), 725 hydrants and roughly 1,000 gate valves carry an average of 3.75 million gallons a day to Everett homes and businesses.
What the 2025 Everett report actually says
Limits are fixed. Results are from MWRA's 2025 Drinking Water Test Results for Everett, including the City letter — system-level figures, not a reading at your tap. A later report supersedes them.
Lead — 5.67 ppb at the 90th percentile
Everett's 2025 round: 5.67 ppb at the 90th percentile against the 15 ppb action level, with one of twenty samples over the action level.
One sample reached 874 ppb
The reported lead range was 0.075 to 874 ppb. A low 90th percentile describes the system; it does not describe every house. The high end is why a test at your own tap matters.
Copper — 62.3 ppb
90th percentile across the same round (range 3.63–105 ppb) against a 1,300 ppb action level. No sample exceeded the copper action level.
411 lead services replaced through 2025
The City letter says Everett replaces roughly 200–300 service lines a year and had replaced 411 lead service lines through the end of 2025.
Letters to every lead or unknown address
In December 2025 the Water Department mailed letters to every location served by a line identified as Lead or Lead Status Unknown, with information on verifying the material.
Coliform — met every month
Everett and MWRA collect 13 samples each week. Everett stayed under the 5% monthly positive limit every month in 2025.
Everett next to Chelsea, Malden and Medford
Next door, Chelsea reported 2.41 ppb at the 90th percentile with 52 lead services removed in 2025. Malden crossed the lead action level in fall 2025, and Medford is working under a MassDEP consent order. Across all MWRA communities, the Sept/Oct 2025 system result was 5.96 ppb with 18 of 594 samples over the action level. Everett's letter is about a mid-range result, a wide spread between homes, and a steady replacement pace.
Where these figures come from
Everything on this page traces to MWRA and the City of Everett Water/Sewer Department.
- MWRA — 2025 Drinking Water Test Results, with the City of Everett letter (PDF) — MWRA sources and treatment; Everett's lead and copper results, lead-replacement totals, system size and coliform compliance.
- City of Everett — Service Line Inventory map — public inventory view linked from the City letter.
Matching treatment to the finding
Everett's report supports checking your service line and a chloramine-aware filter choice — not a default equipment sale.
Look up your service line first
Everett's Service Line Inventory is online as an interactive map, at the Water Department office (19 Norman Street), or by mail on request at 617-394-2325. If your line shows Lead or Unknown, call to schedule an inspection.
Take the City's no-cost replacement — both sides
The letter says Everett intends to replace the public and private side at no cost to the owner, and warns that declining the private side when the public side is replaced can temporarily raise lead levels.
Certified lead filter as a stopgap
Until a lead service is replaced, a filter certified to reduce lead at the kitchen tap is the practical stopgap — not a substitute for the pipe.
Chloramine taste: catalytic carbon or RO
MWRA disinfects with monochloramine. Ordinary carbon handles free chlorine better than chloramine. If taste or odour is the complaint, catalytic carbon or reverse osmosis is the right tool.
How the free test works
A licensed technician tests at your kitchen tap, walks the plumbing, and tells you which of the findings above applies to your house and which does not. There is no charge and no obligation.
Seamless Home is the licensed contractor of record on the work that follows. Installation is performed by vetted installing partners engaged as our subcontractors, and the workmanship obligation stays with us. Coverage is confirmed per service area rather than promised as blanket availability.
What a water treatment job with us covers
Installation and replacement of whole-home and point-of-use treatment, specified against what your water actually contains.
Sediment filtration
Installation of the first stage that protects everything downstream of it, sized to the service line and the household draw.
Softening
Installation of ion-exchange softening where hardness is the problem, including the drain connection the plumbing code treats as indirect waste.
Carbon filtration
Installation of carbon stages for taste, odour and disinfection by-products, specified from your utility's own water quality report.
Reverse osmosis
Point-of-use installation at the kitchen sink where the target is dissolved solids rather than whole-home flow.
Disinfection
Installation of UV or equivalent treatment where the supply is a private well or is otherwise not continuously disinfected.
System replacement
Replacing equipment that has reached the end of its service life, including the discharge and air gap details an inspector looks at.
This is installation and replacement work, specified from a published water quality report or a test of your supply — not from a sales chart. Coverage is confirmed per service area rather than promised as blanket availability.
What the work actually looks like
Treatment equipment is plumbing. Most of the job is the connection, the drain and the code detail behind it.
Everett water, answered plainly
Where does Everett's water come from?+
From the MWRA. Everett buys all of its treated water from the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs and delivers it through about 70 miles of City mains.
Did Everett exceed the lead action level?+
No, in the 2025 round. The City letter shows 5.67 ppb at the 90th percentile against a 15 ppb action level. One of twenty samples was over the action level, and the highest result was 874 ppb.
If the 90th percentile is low, why test my tap?+
Because the range runs from 0.075 to 874 ppb. The 90th percentile is a compliance measure for the system. A home with a lead or galvanized service, or old solder, can sit far above it.
Will Everett replace my lead service line?+
The 2025 letter says the Water Department intends to replace lead services on both the public and private side at no cost to the owner, at a pace of roughly 200–300 lines a year, with 411 replaced through the end of 2025.
Does Everett use chlorine or chloramine?+
Chloramine. MWRA disinfects with monochloramine before the water reaches Everett's meters.
Where do these figures come from?+
MWRA's 2025 Drinking Water Test Results for Everett, which includes the City of Everett Water/Sewer Department letter (PWS 3093000). Third-party aggregators are not used. A later report supersedes these figures.
Related resources
Home water purification and treatment
The national service page behind this one.
Learn more →Chelsea water quality
Next door: lead 2.41 ppb; 52 lead services removed in 2025.
Learn more →Malden water quality
MWRA water with a fall 2025 lead action-level exceedance.
Learn more →Medford water quality
MWRA water under a MassDEP consent order for lead.
Learn more →Winthrop water quality
MWRA town with 2025 summer coliform assessments and 108 lead services relayed.
Learn more →All home services
Water, battery, HVAC and solar under one licensed contractor of record.
Learn more →Get a free test at your tap
A licensed technician tests at your kitchen tap and tells you which findings apply to your house — lead from a service line or older plumbing, chloramine taste or none of them. No charge, no obligation, and coverage confirmed at your address first.
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