Bristol County, Massachusetts: drinking water report. Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts has about 579,000 residents in communities including
Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts has about 579,000 residents in communities including Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton. Water sources vary by system – surface reservoirs, Taunton River basin, and groundwater wells. The county's textile and manufacturing history left a contamination legacy, and New Bedford Harbor is one of the most PCB-contaminated harbors in the country.
New Bedford Harbor was declared a Superfund site in 1982 due to massive PCB contamination from the Aerovox and Cornell-Dubilier electronics plants. According to EPA's 2024 remediation report, over 300,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment have been removed, but the harbor remains under remediation with ongoing dredging planned through 2030. The drinking water supply draws from surface reservoirs outside the contaminated area.
PFAS from multiple sources affects Bristol County. The former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, regional airports, and industrial facilities have all contributed PFAS to groundwater. Massachusetts DEP's 2024 PFAS compliance report documented three Bristol County water systems requiring treatment to meet the state's 20 ppt combined PFAS standard.
Bristol County's water systems generally draw from clean surface reservoirs rather than contaminated groundwater, but the density of industrial history in the county means localized contamination exists throughout. If you are on a private well near any former industrial site, testing is prudent.
Check your water for the latest results. For PFAS and industrial legacy compounds, reverse osmosis at the tap provides the broadest household protection. Our water filter guide evaluates certified systems. Pull your detailed report for historical data, and visit our Massachusetts page for statewide patterns.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Bristol County, MA.
The EPA places Bristol County, MA in Zone 2 - a moderate-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
69% of homes in Bristol County, MA were built before 1980, and 37% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Bristol County, MA averages 6 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide
29 public water systems serving Bristol County, MA have EPA lead testing on record. The reported lead sample skews toward systems that already flagged a problem, so its exceedance rate is not directly comparable with other areas. 12 water systems serving Bristol County, MA carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) | 7 |
| Lead and Copper Rule | 3 |
| Revised Total Coliform Rule | 3 |
| Arsenic | 1 |
| Lead and Copper Rule Revisions | 1 |
Source: EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile tap sampling and EPA SDWIS Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement records, aggregated from the public water systems serving this county. Figures are counts of water systems, not a test of any individual home or tap.