Drinking water quality · 2024
· Verified
· PWSID GA1210001
What's in Atlanta, GA tap water
Only 8 of 27 core regulated contaminants were reported for Atlanta, GA. What was measured is not clean — but most of the picture is missing.
- !1 contaminant at or above a federal limit — worst is TTHM at 1.2x
- !8 of 27 core regulated contaminants reported — 19 never appear in this report
- ✓No open federal violations
+How this score is calculated
Every system starts at 100. Points come off for measured levels, for the federal violation record, and for how much of the core regulated set the utility actually reported. All three inputs are the utility's own published numbers and EPA's own records.
- −15 contaminants at or above a federal limit
- −0 contaminants within 20% of a limit
- −0 open health-based violations
- −0 open monitoring / reporting violations
- −4 health-based violations resolved in the last 5 years
- −17 core regulated contaminants never reported (8/27)
A 90–100 · B 80–89 · C 70–79 · D 60–69 · F below 60. A system reporting under a third of the core set is capped at C however clean its numbers look — a short report is not a clean bill of health.
Full grading methodology, constant for constant →What to worry about
- TTHM1.2× the federal limit14.4–95.8 ug/L · limit 80 ug/L
Long-term exposure above the federal limit is linked to liver, kidney, and central-nervous-system effects and increased cancer risk.
higher than 95% of U.S. systems
+13 contaminants were measured and came in below the limitShow all
| Contaminant | Measured | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| HAA5 | 15.4–42 ug/L | 60 ug/L |
| Turbidity | 0.01–0.6 NTU | 1 NTU |
| Chlorine | 0–2.07 mg/L | 4 mg/L |
| Fluoride | 0.49–0.82 mg/L | 4 mg/L |
| Nitrate Nitrite | 0.71–1.1 mg/L | 10 mg/L |
| Copper | 0.14 mg/L | 1.3 mg/L |
| Lead | 0.0014 mg/L | 0.015 mg/L |
| Total Coliform | 0–0.7 % | — |
| TOC | 1.1–1.8 mg/L | — |
| PFHxA | 4.6 ng/L | — |
| PFPeA | 4.8 ng/L | — |
| PFBS | 4.6 ng/L | — |
| PFBA | 8.3 ng/L | — |
What this report doesn't tell you
19 of the 27 contaminants a community water system normally reports do not appear anywhere in Atlanta, GA's data. Absent is not the same as absent-from-the-water — it means nobody published a number.
+Full detail: PFAS testing, water source, historical monitoring, and the federal violation record
PFAS — EPA UCMR5 (2023–2025)
4 PFAS compounds detected in Atlanta, GA
The EPA finalized the first-ever federal drinking-water limits for six PFAS compounds in April 2024. These numbers come straight from EPA's UCMR5 lab dataset — every U.S. system serving more than 3,300 people tested every PFAS sample at an entry point to its distribution system. PFAS not listed below were either tested and not detected, or not yet sampled.
PFHxA
● Detected (no federal limit)PFPeA
● Detected (no federal limit)PFBS
● Detected (no federal limit)PFBA
● Detected (no federal limit)Where your water comes from · EPA SDWIS
Atlanta, GA's drinking water comes from surface water, drawn from 1 source.
Source
- CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER
Treatment
- CHATTAHOOCHEE PLANT
- HEMPHILL PLANT
Distribution
Also buys water from ATLANTA-FULTON COUNTY WATER RESOURCES.
Compliance history
Federal Safe Drinking Water Act violation & enforcement records (EPA SDWIS). A violation is a regulatory determination by the state or EPA — separate from the measured levels above.
- Maximum contaminant level exceededHealth-based7 violations on record · most recent Apr 2019resolved
Source: EPA SDWIS / ECHO. View the full federal record on EPA ECHO ↗