Residents of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts may benefit from a water filtration or water softening system whether water is from the town’s public water supply or a private well.
In following, there are different types of systems to remove water hardness, manganese and bad tastes & odors. For example, a water softening systems can be installed to remove hard water minerals (magnesium & calcium) and for the removal of dissolved manganese and iron through a technology called Ion Exchange. Particulate matter can be removed with cartridge style sediment filters.
BAD ODORS & TASTE
There are point of entry, whole house water filtration systems to remove bad odors & taste from the water. See link for more on this: bad odors & taste. These systems usually contain activated carbon or some variety of carbon. There are also point of use drinking water systems that can be installed for greatly improved water quality, for example, reverse osmosis technology. For more on this, see the link at: reverse osmosis.
SHREWSBURY, MA PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY
According to the Annual Water Quality Report, the town’s water supply comes entirely from a series of seven (7) active gravel packed groundwater supply wells. These are located in the northwest quadrant of Town. The six wells are pumped to the Home Farm Water Treatment Plant facility for treatment before entering the distribution system. State and federal drinking water regulations require certain chemical treatments before groundwater enters the distribution system: Air stripping is performed on the waters from the Home Farm, 6-1, Home Farm 6-3 & 6-4 satellite wells and 6- 2 wells to remove VOC’S (Volatile Organic Compounds). After treatment, levels have remained undetectable.
Chlorine is added to disinfect the water to prevent waterborne diseases. Potassium Hydroxide which adjusts the pH of the water and a phosphate based corrosion inhibitor is added to minimize lead and copper. Also, manganese is sequestered in the process to prevent problems in the distribution system. Fluoride is added for tooth decay prevention. For more detail, see the Annual Water Quality Report at the following link: Shrewsbury, MA Annual Reports. The Shrewsbury Water Department, 100 Maple Ave, can be contacted at (508) 841-8506 for more information.