Philadelphia water quality report
The Philadelphia Water Department treats water from the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers at three plants. Your hardness depends on which plant serves your neighborhood.
Depends on which plant serves you. Baxter averages about 6 grains per gallon, Belmont about 9, and Queen Lane about 10.
What the Philadelphia reports show
Philadelphia water has 2 results over a legal limit in the latest reports.
Philadelphia Water Department
Source: Philadelphia Water Department, 2024 Drinking Water Quality Report (most recent published in full)
| What was measured | Result | Limit or guide | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardness | Averages of 98 ppm (6 gpg) at Baxter, 152 ppm (9 gpg) at Belmont, and 168 ppm (10 gpg) at Queen Lane | No limit. Over 120 ppm is hard | Worth watching |
| PFOA | Highest result 7.3 ppt, range 2.5 to 7.3 | 14 ppt state limit, 4 ppt federal limit | Above federal limit |
| PFOS | Highest result 5.5 ppt, range 0 to 5.5 | 18 ppt state limit, 4 ppt federal limit | Above federal limit |
| Lead at customer taps | 2.0 ppb at the 90th percentile, 3 of 104 homes elevated (2022 sampling) | 15 ppb action level | Worth watching |
| Total trihalomethanes | 51 ppb, range 14 to 76 | 80 ppb | Worth watching |
| Haloacetic acids | 43 ppb, range 16 to 52 | 60 ppb | Worth watching |
| Nitrate | Up to 4.52 ppm | 10 ppm | Below limit |
How to read a water quality report
Federal law requires every community water system to publish a report, often called a Consumer Confidence Report, by July 1 each year. It lists what the utility found in its water and how those results compare with safety limits.
A report describes water as it leaves the treatment plant and travels through the main pipes. It cannot tell you about the plumbing inside your home, which is where lead and copper usually come from. Private wells have no report at all, so testing is up to the owner.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| MCL | Maximum contaminant level, the legal limit for drinking water |
| MCLG | The goal level with no known health risk. Often lower than the legal limit |
| Action level | For lead and copper, the level that requires a utility to take extra steps if more than 10% of homes tested exceed it |
| 90th percentile | Nine out of ten homes tested were at or below this number |
| Running average | An average of recent quarters. Many limits are judged this way, so one high sample is not a violation on its own |
| ppm, ppb, ppt | Parts per million, billion, and trillion. One ppt is like one drop in about 20 Olympic swimming pools |
| ND | Not detected at the lab’s reporting level |
Pennsylvania limits for PFOA and PFOS are 14 and 18 parts per trillion. The EPA has also set a 4 part per trillion limit for each, with a later compliance date.
How we tag results
| Result | When we flag it |
|---|---|
| PFOA and PFOS | Above federal limit when the result is over the EPA’s 4 ppt limit. Utilities have until 2031 to meet it, so this is not a violation yet. Worth watching when only individual samples are over 4 ppt |
| Disinfection byproducts | Worth watching when any result reaches 75% of the limit |
| Lead | Worth watching when any home tested is above the action level or the 90th percentile is above 5 ppb. There is no known safe level of lead for children |
| Nitrate | Worth watching above 5 ppm, half the limit |
| Sodium | Worth watching above the 20 mg/L guide for people on low sodium diets |
| Hardness | Worth watching above 120 ppm, where water is considered hard |
| Above limit | A violation or a result over the legal limit in the report |
On a well? There is no report for you
Pennsylvania does not regulate private wells, so nobody publishes results for your water. Public water reports describe public systems only.
Our guide to testing your private well in Pennsylvania covers what to test for, how often, and how to read the results.
Not sure what your report means for your home?
Bring it to a free consultation. We will walk you through every line and tell you honestly whether treatment is worth it.
Results summarized from each utility’s most recent published annual water quality report. Utilities update their reports every year, and results at your tap can differ from system averages. Last reviewed October 2026.
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