"Dirty Water" is a song by the American rock band the Standells, written by their producer Ed Cobb. The song is a mock paean to the city of Boston, Massachusetts and its then-famously polluted Boston Harbor and Charles River.

Its Boston and Charles River references are reportedly based on an experience of Cobb and his girlfriend with a mugger in Boston in the mid-1960s. In addition to the river, other local interest items in the song include the Boston University women's curfew — "Frustrated women ... have to be in by twelve o'clock" — and a passing mention of the Boston Strangler — "have you heard about the Strangler? (I'm the man I'm the man)." Boston is also home to Simmons College, a women's college that, like many such institutions, had a curfew for students. There is disagreement regarding the identity of the "frustrated women". In a city with many colleges and universities, as well as a large Navy presence (historically), it could be purposefully unspecific.

First issued in late 1965 on the Tower label, a subsidiary of Capitol Records, the song debuted April 30, 1966 on the Cash Box charts and peaked at #8. It reached #11 on the Billboard singles charts on June 11. It was the band's first major hit single; their earlier charting record, "The Boy Next Door," had only reached #102 on Billboard's "Bubbling Under" chart in February 1965.

Although "Dirty Water" is beloved by the city of Boston and its sports fans, the song first became a hit in the state of Florida, breaking out on WLOF in Orlando in January 1966.

Dirty Water was also the title of the Standells' most successful LP, their only nationally charting album. This LP charted on both Billboard and Cash Box magazines' charts, peaking at #52 and #39, respectively, during the summer of 1966.

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