Is SAUGUS WATER DEPT. (MWRA)'s water safe to drink?
SAUGUS WATER DEPT. (MWRA) has a health-based violation on record, but none in the last five years - an older issue, not necessarily a current one. 27,844 people get their water from it, across 9,733 connections.
SAUGUS WATER DEPT. (MWRA)'s record against the rest of the country
SAUGUS WATER DEPT. (MWRA) has 13 violations on record in total, 10 of thems health-based - ranking it 2,015th of 12,903 systems by violation count, the 84th percentile nationally.
How SAUGUS WATER DEPT. (MWRA) compares within MA
Among the 283 MA systems in this dataset, the average is 7.0 health-based violations - SAUGUS WATER DEPT. (MWRA)'s 10 is above that. The filter guide explains what a violation like this actually calls for.
Most recent violation on record
The last violation EPA has on record for SAUGUS WATER DEPT. (MWRA) is from 1999-01-01 (health-based: 1999-01-01). Last reported to EPA: 06/22/2026.
What kind of problem, specifically
SAUGUS WATER DEPT. (MWRA)'s flagged contaminants and rule violations, grouped by what they actually mean for a filter choice rather than left as EPA's raw code list:
- Lead & copper - flagged from: Lead and Copper Rule
- Microbial contamination / treatment technique - flagged from: Coliform (TCR); Surface Water Treatment Rule
The most severe category on record is lead & copper, which points toward a lead-class filter if you want to address it directly.
What this data is and is not
This is what SAUGUS WATER DEPT. (MWRA) reported to its state primacy agency and EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act - real regulatory record, not a lab test of your specific tap. Water quality can still change between the meter and the faucet - household plumbing sits outside what a record of 13 logged violations can see. The guide to what this data misses covers that gap.