Philadelphia Water Department

Water Quality Snapshot: Philadelphia Water Department

Philadelphia Water Department is a local-owned community water system that delivers drinking water to 1,600,000 residents in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia County) through 524,021 service connections. Its water is drawn from surface water sources. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System records 130 total violations for this system , of which 23 (18%) are health-based, meaning a contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level or a required treatment technique failed. A further 103 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 Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule, recorded in 69 violations (MR). Under EPA's UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program, 8 PFAS compounds were detected in samples collected from this system, with a maximum reported concentration of 10 ppt (parts per trillion). PFAS are persistent synthetic chemicals linked to health effects at very low exposure levels.

Across Pennsylvania, EPA tracks 7,701 public water systems serving 12,630,061 people, with 1,159,868 cumulative violations and 68,517 health-based violations on record. About 97% of systems in the state carry at least one violation, and state-wide the average per system is 150.6 violations. Statewide, 224 of 389 UCMR5-tested systems have reported PFAS detections (57.6%).

Philadelphia Water Department's 130 violations sit below the Pennsylvania average.

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