Water Quality and Your Health

Key points

  • The better your water quality, the less likely your water is to make you sick.
  • The quality of your tap water depends on where it came from and how it has been treated.
  • Water utilities must monitor water quality and meet safe drinking water standards.
  • Contact your water utility or health department if you are concerned about the quality of your tap water.
Smiling woman filling a drinking glass from the water tap in her kitchen

Overview

The quality of tap water varies from place to place depending on:

In the United States, 9 out of 10 people get their tap water from a public water system. The utilities that provide this water are required to meet safe drinking water standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

If you have a private well‎

If you do not pay a water bill, you likely get your tap water from a private well. EPA's safe water standards do not apply to privately owned wells. Therefore, you are responsible for testing your well water and removing any germs or chemicals to make it safe to drink.

Causes

Harmful germs or chemicals can get into tap water either:

  • At its source (for example, the river your water comes from)
  • While traveling through pipes to your home or building

Health impacts

Germs and chemicals in drinking water cause a variety of mild to serious health issues. Symptoms depend on the type of germ or chemical in the unsafe water.

Man with a pained expression sitting on a couch clutching his stomach with both hands
Many germs that spread through water cause stomach pain and diarrhea.

Prevention

Your water utility works to prevent germs and chemicals from getting into your tap water and making you sick.

Meeting safety standards

Utilities must follow EPA's safe water rules. These rules include guidelines for:

  • Drinking water quality
  • How often to test water
  • Water testing methods

EPA sets tap water limits for more than 90 germs and chemicals, such as E. coli and lead. Utilities treat water to remove these germs and chemicals and provide safe water.

Many states enforce their own drinking water standards that are at least as protective as EPA's national standards.

Keeping germs and chemicals out of water at home‎

Utilities monitor your water as they pipe it from its source to the treatment plant to your home. Once water enters the pipes on your property, the utility no longer monitors it. If you are having water quality problems caused by the pipes or water devices in your home, it is your (or the person who owns your home's) responsibility to fix the problem. Your health department may be able to help.

Testing

Your utility must regularly test the water they supply to you. Utilities test for the more than 90 germs and chemicals that EPA limits in water. Find testing results from the previous year in the water quality report your utility sends each year.

How often your utility tests your water depends on:

  • The number of people they provide water to
  • The type of water body your tap water comes from
  • Which germ or chemical they are testing for

Check with your water utility for more details about your water system's testing.

Sharing water quality information

If there is a problem with your tap water's quality, your utility must tell you. If there is an immediate health risk, your utility must tell you about the problem within 24 hours.

If there is no immediate health risk, your utility has more time to notify you. They have either 30 days or a year to tell you depending on how serious the problem is.

Annual water quality report

Your utility must also send you a water quality report each year by July 1.

The report includes information about:

  • Where your tap water comes from
  • Levels of germs and chemicals in your water over the past year
  • Health risks of drinking water with germs or chemicals
  • Any time in the past year your utility did not follow EPA's safe water rules
  • How to help protect your water

If your water gets contaminated

If your tap water gets contaminated with germs or chemicals, follow advice from your utility or health officials. Depending on the problem, officials may issue a drinking water advisory. Read the advisory for specific recommendations on how to avoid getting sick from the water.

If you suspect harmful germs or chemicals are in your water or have other water quality concerns, contact your water utility or health department.