Water & Sewer

We're Replacing Water Meters!

Installers may come to your home.

Find out more about this project.

About the Water/Sewer Division

The Town of Lexington belongs to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and purchases approximately 2 billion gallons of water annually. The Town pays the MWRA to treat and dispose of the town's sewage. The State Legislature assisted in sewer rate relief again by including in their budget $49 million for MWRA communities that meant a reduction of $833,076 in Lexington's MWRA assessment. Lexington has received $4,646,319 from the State since the implementation of this program. The average residential water/sewer bill can be estimated by multiplying 15 units (1 unit = 100 cubic feet) by the number of people in residence during the billing period.

Irrigation Meter Installation Program

Lexington has implemented a policy that allows installation of a second meter (PDF) for outdoor watering. Water consumed through this meter is only charged a water rate. There have been approximately 3,898 irrigation meters installed to date.

Water / Sewer System

The infrastructure consists of 158 miles of water main, 2 water towers storing 3 million gallons, 1,500 fire hydrants, 3,400 street and hydrant control valves, and about 10,000 residential control valves located on property lines. Four main water transmission lines serve Lexington: 16" main at Summer St., 16" main on Mass. Avenue in East Lexington, 12" main at Watertown Street, and 24" main on Concord Avenue. The sewer system has 137 miles of street line sewers, 34 miles of trunk line sewers and 10 sewer pump stations, including the main pumping station at Route 128 and Bedford St., and 4,924 manholes.

Pumping Stations

  • Main Pumping Station
  • Worthen Road Pumping Station
  • Brigham Road Pumping Station
  • North Street Pumping Station
  • Marshall Road Pumping Station
  • Potter Pond Pumping Station
  • Concord Avenue Pumping Station
  • Hayden Avenue Pumping Station
  • Bowman Street Pumping Station
  • Constitution Road Pumping Station

Water / Sewer Division Structure

  • Water distribution
  • Sewer maintenance
  • Construction

Employees are cross-trained to perform all division functions and participate in snow removal operations. The distribution section has six employees who respond to service calls from residents, repair curb and water control boxes, read and install water meters and maintain and update the water control valve locations. They oversee the cross-connection control program and investigate all water bill complaints. They also mark out services for contractors, utility companies and assist the Engineering Division.

In an ongoing effort to provide residents with quality drinking water, staff conducts an annual system-wide water-flushing program during September and October. Water is tested for bacteria and coliform on a weekly basis at nine different sampling locations. All testing results are available.The sewer maintenance section consists of three employees who maintain the sewer system of 170.7 miles of pipe and 10 sewer pump stations, implement the sewer main flushing program and manage the pump station maintenance program.

These two programs assure residents of the safe and proper discharge of wastewater. This staff has the technical knowledge to identify any electrical problems with relay or pressure switches.

The construction section of the division consists of three employees who are responsible for the lead water service replacement program, installing new control valves where needed, and replacing defective control valves. Staff oversees replacements of hydrants, sewer mains and sewer services.Employees attend training seminars on confined space entry, cross connection control, MWRA procedures for drinking water sampling, hydrant maintenance and courses relating to the State certification exams.

Six employees are State Certified Drinking Water Facility Operators. One is a grade 4, three are Grade 3's, and one is a Grade 1. Three employees are State Certified Back Flow Testers and Cross Connection Surveyors. Staff responds to emergency water and sewer repairs day and night. Service interruptions are kept to a minimum but breaks are often at times and locations inconvenient to customers and motorists.