Community Water System · PWSID MA2125000

Harvard Water Department

Serves 1,422 peopleGroundwaterOwner: Local GovernmentHarvard, Massachusetts
Nothing open right now.

On record since 1996: 8 violations. 1 over the limit · 6 missed or late tests · 1 notice or report. Most recent began 2016-12-30.

For this year's test results, ask the utility for its annual Consumer Confidence Report. Every community system must publish one.

1Over the limit
0Treatment lapse
6Missed or late test
1Notice or report

More violations on record than 82% of active water systems in Massachusetts. Small systems with no staff chemist often rack up missed-test violations; big utilities rarely do.

The record, year by year

1996 · Missed or late test: 11997 · Missed or late test: 21997 · Missed or late test: 220002001 · Missed or late test: 120052009 · Missed or late test: 120102013 · Notice or report: 120152016 · Over the limit: 12016 · Missed or late test: 120202025
One square = one violation, by the year it began. Empty columns are years with nothing on EPA's record.
13% over the limit · 175% missed or late test · 613% notice or report · 1

Across Massachusetts, 79% of violations are missed or late tests and 4% are water over a limit.

Lead & copper at the tap

Utilities sample taps in homes most likely to have lead pipes, and report the 90th-percentile result: 9 in 10 homes sampled came in at or below this number. Above the red line (the action level) the utility must act. The action level is not a safe level; EPA's health goal for lead is zero. EPA's file does not date these results, so they are shown highest first.

Lead, 90th percentile 8 results on file · action level 15 ppb

5 ppb
4.3 ppb
4 ppb
3 ppb
3 ppb
2.8 ppb
2.8 ppb
2 ppb

Every violation on record

  1. 2016-12-30Lead and Copper RuleLead Consumer NoticeBack in compliance
  2. 2016-01-01Coliform (TCR)MCL, Monthly (TCR)Back in compliance
  3. 2013-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Complete Failure to ReportBack in compliance
  4. 2009-07-01Lead and Copper RuleFollow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/RBack in compliance
  5. 2001-01-01Lead and Copper RuleFollow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/RBack in compliance
  6. 1997-07-01Lead and Copper RuleFollow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/RBack in compliance
  7. 1997-01-01Lead and Copper RuleFollow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/RBack in compliance
  8. 1996-07-01Lead and Copper RuleFollow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/RBack in compliance

System details

Population served1,422
Service connections99
Water sourceGroundwater
System typeCommunity Water System
OwnerLocal Government
StatusActive
CityHarvard
EPA ZIP on file01451

Areas served

  • Harvard, Worcester County, 01451

Reading this record

Harvard Water Department is a community water system that draws from groundwater and serves about 1,422 people in Harvard, Massachusetts. Everything above comes from the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), where states report every violation by every public water system.

Four kinds of violation. Only one is a measurement of the water: over the limit means a test came back above a legal maximum (an MCL). A treatment lapse means a required protective step was not done, such as disinfection, filtration, fixing a defect an inspector found, or filing a lead-pipe inventory. A missed or late test means a required test was skipped or never reported. That is the most common kind, and the most misread: it does not mean the water was bad, and it does not mean the water was fine. Notices and reports covers public notices and the annual Consumer Confidence Report.

Status. “Back in compliance” means the state recorded a return to compliance. “Period ended” means the violation's compliance period is over but no return to compliance was ever filed, which is common in older records. EPA's federal copy lags state records by months, so call the utility for anything current.