Can I drink water from the aquifer fed by Lower Waban Brook?
If you live in South Natick, then you don’t have a choice. You ARE ALREADY drinking the water. Lower Waban Brook and the Charles River recharge the groundwater aquifer from which South Natick gets its water. WHenever weather conditions disturb the brook’s sediments, lead and arsenic travel toward the portion of the Charles which feeds Natick’s wells. Current testing shows acceptable lead levels. You can get the most recent test data from Roger Wade, Natick Board of Health Director. The Henry Woods Paint Factory and its accompanying lead smelter was built in 1848 and abandoned in 1917. Its lead, arsenic and chromate pigment raw materials remain. The factory site is bounded on the North by Morses Pond, and reaches as far south as the Charles River in Dover, only a few hundred feet from where the Town of Natick operates its Elm Bank drinking water wells. Lead, Arsenic, and chromium are moving south toward the Charles River and Elm Bank via contaminated suspended sediments. Lead waste movi
