Metals · 2024

Lead in Cambridge, MA tap water

Approaching the federal limit· 0.9× the limit

Cambridge, MA's 2024 Lead level is between 80% and 100% of the federal limit (15 ug/L Action level) — measured but not in violation.

The measurement

StatisticValue
Range
System-wide
0–14 ug/L
Reported level
Highest Level Found
8 ug/L

Verbatim from Cambridge, MA's 2024 Consumer Confidence Report — source document ↗

About Lead

A toxic metal that leaches into water from old service lines, solder, and plumbing fixtures.

There is no safe level of lead; it harms brain development in children and raises blood pressure in adults. The EPA sets an action level, not a health goal above zero.

How Cambridge, MA compares

5 of the 393 systems measuring Lead on The Water Map have it at or above the federal limit:

Nearby systems also reporting Lead:

People also ask

+Is there Lead in Cambridge, MA tap water?

Yes — Cambridge, MA's 2024 Consumer Confidence Report lists Lead at 0–14 ug/L. Cambridge, MA's 2024 Lead level is between 80% and 100% of the federal limit (15 ug/L Action level) — measured but not in violation.

+What's the federal limit for Lead in drinking water?

The federal Action level for Lead is 15 ug/L. The EPA enforces this against the regulated reporting statistic (running annual average or 90th percentile), not a single-sample spike.

+What is Lead?

A toxic metal that leaches into water from old service lines, solder, and plumbing fixtures. There is no safe level of lead; it harms brain development in children and raises blood pressure in adults. The EPA sets an action level, not a health goal above zero.

+Which other U.S. cities have Lead over the federal limit?

5 of the 393 systems on The Water Map measuring Lead report it at or above the federal limit. Examples include Santa Rosa, CA, Atlanta, GA, City of Hemet, CA.

+Where does this Lead measurement come from?

This page reproduces the Lead entry from the 2024 Consumer Confidence Report published by the Cambridge, MA water utility — the annual drinking-water report every U.S. utility is required by federal law to publish. The original source document is archived at /water/ma/cambridge/2024/source.

Full report
All Cambridge, MA water-quality data →
Every contaminant measured in the 2024 report.
Contaminant pillar
Lead across the U.S. →
Every public water system measuring Lead, ranked.