Drinking Water Information
Where does my water come from?
The Chelmsford Water District draws water from both the Merrimack and Concord River Basins. Our Water Storage Tanks hold one of the state's largest capacities, with 15.3 million gallons of water. Combined, our facilities can provide over 1 billion gallons of clean drinking water every year.
How is my water treated and purified?
The Water District uses 20 gravel-packed wells that are filtered through efficient and proven water treatment technologies. The District operates three water treatment plants. The Crooked Spring and Riverneck Road treatment plants are the two main water treatment plants that filter the water through green sand filtration and the Smith Street plant is a seasonal or emergency plant which filters the water by membrane filtration. The water is then tested to meet DEP and EPA regulations for quality and safety. The Disitrct has never and still does not flouridate the water. Should you have any questions about the treatment processes the District employs, please call the Environmental Compliance Manager at 978-256-2381 for more information and the possibility of a tour of the facilities.
What substances are expected to be in drinking water?
The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.
Substances that may be present in source water include:
- Microbial Contaminants, such as viruses and bacte-ria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.
- Inorganic Contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.
- Pesticides and Herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.
- Organic Chemical Contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.
- Radioactive Contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.
In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prescribes regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems.
Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health. Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk.
More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791, or online on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.