Your property
Service pipes and lead
The city owns the mains in the street. You own the pipe that runs from the main to your building — and that boundary decides who pays when something fails.
Water service
From the main to your meter
Your water service extends from its connection to the water main in the street up to and including your meter. Yours is the only property served by that line, and you are responsible for keeping it in good working order at your own expense.
A leak on a service line can cause destructive damage and create a health risk, which is why the city still performs work it needs to maintain accurate records for current and future owners.
Sewer service
From your foundation to the city line
You maintain the sewer service from your building foundation out to the city connection, and you are responsible for the expense of determining or relieving the cause of any blockage along it.
When you report a backup, city crews check the city main first. If it is clear, the problem is on your line.
Lead service line inventory
Find out what your pipe is made of
The city is carrying out a lead service line inventory required by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and submitted preliminary results on October 10, 2024. The results are published as an interactive map you can search by address.
This is why crews have been digging small test holes near water shutoffs across the city — the only reliable way to confirm a pipe's material is to look at it.
What is under the street
The distribution system runs to about 235 miles of pipe ranging from 2-inch to 36-inch. Pressure and storage across Haverhill's hilly landscape are maintained by 3 concrete storage tanks and 5 booster pumping stations.
Pipe materials in the system
- Unlined cast iron
- Lined cast iron
- Ductile iron
- Transite
- PVC
What you may not connect to a sewer
Roof downspouts, foundation drains and other sources of surface water must not be connected to a sewer line. Clean water belongs in a storm drain or on landscaping.
Why it matters
Every gallon of rainwater routed into a combined sewer is a gallon closer to an overflow into the Merrimack. Keeping clean water out of the sewers is the cheapest form of overflow reduction there is, and it is work property owners can do.
When the city will shut off a service
Water service can be terminated for any of the following. Notice is given in each case except one.
- A past due bill
- An illegal cross connection in the plumbing
- A meter reader denied entry
- A Water Division representative denied access for inspection or to the meter
- Failure to repair a leak in the service or plumbing
Without prior notice
A suspected contamination threat
The Water Division will shut off a water service without prior notice to eliminate a cross connection or backflow condition where contaminants or pollutants are suspected to be a threat to public health. A cross connection is any actual or potential connection between the public water system and a source of contamination, and they are prohibited unless protected by a city-approved backflow prevention device.
Questions about backflow protection, including for a private well: (978) 374-2375.
Applying for a new water service
Complete and sign the Water Service Application, then scan it in colour at 300 dpi — both pages — and email it to lsandoval@haverhillwater.com.
Paper copies are available at City Hall, 4 Summer Street, Room 300, and at the Water Maintenance Office, 125 Amesbury Road. Questions: (978) 374-2368.