Is tap water drinkable in Massachusetts (and elsewhere in USA)?

Tap water in the United States is generally safe to use, but if you stay longer (several years), lead poisoning can become a problem.

While Flint is mostly known, it is only the tip of an iceberg: Elevated blood levels are widespread in the USA because there are still many deposits of lead: old factories, lead paint in old houses and water contamination with lead plumbing.

For comparison: The mentioned CDC elevated level for lead in blood for children is 5 µg/cl, while the recommended value of the WHO for lead in blood is 1 µg/cl.

So it may be a good investion to test the tap water level for heavy metals, especially if you live near the Great Seas or in the northeast.

Tap water in Boston proper and certain surrounding communities comes from the MWRA and they have to publish reports on the quality, and MWRA usually come out pretty good. For example, see this report: Monthly Water Quality Test Results (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority).

As I recall the MWRA switched from chlorine to ozone (oxygen) to treat water a couple years, with a somewhat noticeable improvement in taste, and in general meaning less of chemicals you might not want in your water.

I think Cambridge might have its own separate water system. Other towns and parts of the state have their own systems, too.

As others have said, the municipal tap water everywhere in the US is regularly tested and is “safe”, save, perhaps for a few very small towns, or a larger town here and there which may be having temporary difficulties.

Do be aware that there are many private wells and the like, especially in rural areas, and, unlike municipal supplies, they are not subjected to regular testing and certification.

And you may find the water in one part of the country or another just doesn’t taste good to you. Sometimes this is simply because you’re used to a different taste, and sometimes it’s due to stuff in the water that, while perfectly “safe”, imparts a taste/odor. You’re more likely to encounter this in small towns.

Publicly available water in the US is held to a legally enforceable standard by the EPA through the Safe Drinking Water Act. The minimum standards are listed here if you are interested.

If water deviates from these the local drinking water authority is required to make those deviations quite public.

For example, recently, near where I live, there was a very small amount of E. coli detected in the water and a boil water order was issued. The standard is “No more than 5.0% samples total coliform-positive in a month”. This was announced in the papers, tv and radio. It was obvious that the water coming out of the tap was not up to snuff. Massachusetts is held to this exact same standard and you can expect that if something goes wrong you will know about it quickly.

Note that a lot of houses in the US have their own well – that is, they don’t get water from the utility but straight from the ground. Not something you expect in a “first world” country, but given the size of the place, not actually all that strange. According to the EPA, about 15% of Americans have “private water supply”. Whether those are safe depends on the construction of the well, as well as on nearby sources of pollution and possibly filtering / processing equipment that comes along with it. I have friends who love their well water, and others who complain they can’t even wash their clothes in it.

I use a simple water filter for coffee and tea, because I don’t like the (after)taste of the water where I live. But it’s absolutely safe to drink. And that is true anywhere in the US.

UPDATE

You may have heard about the scandal in Flint, Michigan where the water supply was taken from a heavily polluted river. The interaction of chemicals (acidity) in that water with the old lead plumbing system resulted in severe contamination and made a lot of people sick.

Apparently not all tap water is safe to drink…

U.S. municipal water systems provide drinkable tap water. Most of them add chlorine compounds to sterilize the water. (Of course, if you want to be certain that the water is sterile, you need to boil it or chemically treat it yourself.) Many also add fluoride compounds, allegedly to prevent dental cavities.

The biggest problem with American “tap water” is the pipes in the houses. Many homes and schools have galvanized steel drinking water pipes, and/or lead solder to join the pipes. Galvanized steel pipes rust on the inside, causing the drinking water to have a yellow, red, or brown tint. Lead solder can leach lead into the water. In houses that have discolored tap water, a filter is worth paying for and using. Brita is one brand of these filters.

The second biggest problem with American “tap water” is that much of the country has “hard water”. This makes it harder to clean sinks, tubs, and showers. Some people choose to “soften” their water, but this usually puts extra sodium in the water.

Yes, tap water in the US is regularly tested and drinkable except when explicitly noted. For example, here in Portland, Oregon we usually have a “boil alert” (i.e. boil your tap water before drinking it) about once a year for a couple days because a regular sample indicates possible E. Coli contamination. There usually isn’t, but they get the warning out until it’s verified safe. I keep a few gallon jugs of tap water handy for when that happens.

The EPA, and local authorities, produce water quality reports. This is the one for Massachusettes.

A note about bottled water, about 25% of it is tap water. Yup, they take water from the municipal supply, filter it, put it in a bottle and sell it back to you with a huge markup. The rest comes from somewhere else, but there’s no guarantee it’s any better than tap water. Different agencies regulate tap vs bottled water (EPA vs FDA) and the regulations tend to be stricter for tap water. Enjoy!

First off, except in the case of short-term disasters, tap water is safe to drink everywhere in the United States.

In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency regulates tap water quality.
The Food and Drug Administration regulates bottled water as a food.
EPA standards are stricter than FDA standards.
For bottled water products that are bottled and sold in one state, there may be no federal regulation whatsoever.

The NRDC, an environmental organisation, gives some guidelines about tap water.

Tap water in MA is quite drinkable; I’ve lived here for over 30 years, drinking it. No funny colors or odors, either.

Almost all tap water in the US is drinkable. The exceptions are generally noted and announced and temporary.