Melrose, MA

Dependable Plumbing Service Since 1985

Melrose City Hall was built in 1874 and refurbished in 1937 after a fire. You’ll find many other buildings from this period throughout Melrose.
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We’ve been providing reliable plumbing, heating, and air conditioning service to Melrose residents for over 35 years. In that time we’ve encountered just about every possible scenario. From simple plumbing repairs and installations to solving unwanted, but hard to find, odors, noises, and leaks. This is reassuring for our Melrose customers who rely on us for fast, efficient, and affordable solutions to what are often stressful events.

Thanks to our customers in Melrose and other nearby communities we’ve built a reputation based on service and satisfaction. We realize that every service call, plumbing emergency, or temperature related problem is an inconvenience for households. That’s why we make sure our technicians are not only highly trained and capable plumbers, but also are well-mannered, punctual, and tuned in to the needs of each customer. We believe that this laser focus on satisfaction is the reason we’ve received hundreds of 5 star reviews on Google and elsewhere.

More Than Just Plumbing

We’re available 24/7 to quickly solve problems related to plumbing. Those include leaks, malfunctions, or upgrades including

• Leaky Pipes
• Water Heaters
• Sump Pumps
• Water Filtration

Our technicians are trained and certified in HVAC. All of us here at Absolute Precision Plumbing Heating & Cooling are well qualified to diagnose and repair problems with heating and cooling systems and if necessary replace them.

Vintage Melrose Homes

Melrose has a high proportion of magnificent older homes which still make use of inefficient oil or gas furnaces or boilers for space heating. These homes, along with many others of more recent vintage are not good candidates for the installation of ductwork for central air conditioning. If you live in one of these fine homes you should talk to us. We can put a big dent in your energy bill while keeping you warmer in winter and cooler in the summer.

Melrose Facts

If you’ve recently moved to Melrose or purchased a home–Welcome and Congratulations. Since plumbing, along with heating and cooling systems are critical pieces of a homes infrastructure we receive a lot of calls from folks who are moving into new homes. They often have questions which sometimes have little to do with the actual systems in their new home. We wanted to share with you some useful information about Melrose, particularly as it relates to plumbing, heating, and cooling.

Melrose Water Supply

Water in Melrose is supplied by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). The water itself comes from the Quabbin Reservoir in Central Massachusetts and the Wachusett Reservoir. Over 85% of the watershed lands that surround the reservoirs are covered in forest and wetlands. According to the MWRA 2.2 million people and 5,500 industrial users have one of the most abundant and high quality water supplies in the world.

The natural watersheds keep MWRA water clean and clear. To keep the supply secure the streams and reservoirs are tested often. They are also patrolled daily by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). And unlike in the Western U.S. we’re not facing water shortages anytime soon. The Quabbin alone can hold a 4-year supply of water.

The City of Melrose operates and maintains a series of water pumping stations, sewer pumping stations, along with 80 miles of water and 78 miles of sewer. The city bills about 700 million gallons of water each quarter. The water bills separate water and sewer consumption with sewer being a bit higher. Sewer usage is gauged on the principle that what comes in must go out so if you you use a lot of water that doesn’t go down the drain you should consider having a second water meter installed for pools and irrigation, etc. You can find out more about Melrose water rates here.

Water Quality Questions Answered

The MWRA website contains a wealth of information including frequently asked questions. These are questions having to do with the color, odor, or taste of water. Since, as plumbers, we’re often asked the same questions to save you some time we’ve distilled the answers.

• • A DEP health advisory suggests that infants not be fed formula made with water containing levels higher than 300 ppb of manganese. MWRA water has never even come close. It’s usually 30 to 60 times lower than the DEP advisory level.

• • MWRA’s drinking water is soft. That means you don’t need to use special softeners for clothes or in dishwashers. Also you don’t need to use as much dish-washing soap, laundry detergent, or other soaps.

• • Yellowish water has nothing to do with the water. The water sometimes turns yellow due to low levels of dissolved iron picked up from old iron pipes in both the MWRA system and your community’s water system. The EPA says that increased levels of iron that produce yellow water are not public health threats.

• • Rusty or red water is a temporary condition that sometimes occurs when there is an increase or change in water flow. It can be triggered by water main breaks, fire hydrant activations, and flow direction changes made by local towns. Small particles of rust and sediments in the pipes become unattached. You should refrain from using water — for laundry, dishes, cooking and drinking — until the condition clears up.

• • Green stains on plumbing fixtures are not usually a problem in MWRA communities. MWRA adjusts the pH of the water to reduce the tendency of copper and lead to leach from your plumbing into your drinking water.

• • Pink stains in bathrooms, laundry rooms, and other wet areas are caused by biofilms and are not harmful. They’re not from the water but from the air. Biofilms are found virtually everywhere there is water, including sinks, toilets, shower curtains, humidifiers, ice makers, and water  purification systems.

• • Cloudy water, also known as white water, is caused by air bubbles in the water. It usually happens when it is very cold outside and air gets mixed in with the water supply. It is completely harmless. The best thing to do is let it sit in an open container until the bubbles naturally disappear.

• • • A fishy or earthy smell is probably the result of algae growth in one of the water system’s reservoirs. When a funny taste or smell is first detected in the water supply, MWRA moves quickly to correct the problem with a limited application of copper sulfate to control the natural algal growth in the affected reservoir. That eventually solves the problem. Different types of algae can cause your water to smell fishy, moldy, grassy or even like cucumbers or violets. Refrigerating the water can help eliminate the odor, and adding a slice of lemon will remove any bitter taste.

• • A chlorine smell in water, which might happen in the summer is due to MWRA disinfecting the water supply as it travels through the system. They use a mild disinfectant called mono-chloramine that has very little taste or odor. People who have a sensitive palette may detect an odor of chlorine. Chilling the water usually eliminates it. You can leave a pitcher of water in the refrigerator.

• • To prevent water from picking up any metal particles that might be in your household plumbing MWRA treats its drinking water so that it has a pH of approximately 9.3. The pH scale runs from 0-14 with 0 being acidic and 14 being alkaline. 7 is neutral so 9.3 is slightly more alkaline and less acidic. You might like to also know that the water in the Quabbin Reservoir has a pH of approximately 6.8, close to neutral.

• • MWRA tests for sodium regularly and the highest level found was 33.4 milligrams per liter (about 7 milligrams per glass). This is considered to be a very low level of sodium by the FDA. Sodium in water contributes only a small fraction of a person’s overall sodium intake.

Connect With Us   Help the Community

We’ll be adding more information to this page as time goes on. The Melrose community is a priority for us as residents seek to lower their energy bills and improve the efficiency of their homes infrastructure. We’d love to hear from you on Facebook. If you have suggestions or additional information that would be useful for Melrosians let us know.

For questions or an estimate on a plumbing, heating , or air conditioning project give us a call at 978-774-8835 or contact us.