Freedom District

Water Quality Snapshot: Freedom District

Freedom District is a local-owned community water system that delivers drinking water to 24,867 residents in Westminster, Maryland (Carroll County) through 8,458 service connections. Its water is drawn from surface water sources. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System records 81 total violations for this system , of which 26 (32%) are health-based, meaning a contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level or a required treatment technique failed. A further 52 monitoring and reporting violations are on file. The most recent violation on record dates to 2025.

The most frequently cited contaminant at this system is E. COLI, recorded in 16 violations (MR). Under EPA's UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program, 2 PFAS compounds were detected in samples collected from this system, with a maximum reported concentration of 3.4 ppt (parts per trillion). PFAS are persistent synthetic chemicals linked to health effects at very low exposure levels.

Across Maryland, EPA tracks 3,215 public water systems serving 6,070,211 people, with 60,496 cumulative violations and 18,132 health-based violations on record. About 80% of systems in the state carry at least one violation, and state-wide the average per system is 18.8 violations. Statewide, 50 of 83 UCMR5-tested systems have reported PFAS detections (60.2%).

Freedom District's 81 violations sit above the Maryland average.

All figures above are sourced directly from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 public data releases and are updated as EPA publishes new reporting cycles.