City water reports tell you about the public system, not exactly what is happening at your kitchen tap. Start with those reports, then look at your plumbing, what you’re noticing, and what you want to change.
Use City reports for system and regulatory information, current advisories for temporary issues, and EWG as an independent comparison. They answer different questions, and EWG guidelines are not legal drinking-water limits.
The City’s official page includes the current annual report and older reports. Use it to see source-water information, reported constituents, water characteristics, and how results compare with regulatory standards.
02Annual reports look backward. Check current City advisories for active conditions such as outages, boil-water notices, or other temporary system issues.
03EWG lets you search by ZIP code or utility and applies its own health guidelines. Use it as an independent reference, not as a substitute for legal or regulatory limits.
The utility report describes the public water system. It does not account for your service line, building plumbing, fixtures, water-use habits, or equipment already installed in your home.
That’s why two homes on the same municipal system may not need the same treatment. We use the public information, then look at what is actually happening at your property.
These are some of the main questions homeowners need to sort out before deciding whether to add treatment.
Meeting regulatory standards and deciding what you want at home are different questions. You may still want to address taste, odor, a specific reported constituent, a plumbing concern, or drinking-water preferences.
No. The annual report describes the municipal system and prior-year results. It does not test the plumbing or tap water inside your individual home.
No. Treat the water where the concern exists. If the goal is only drinking and cooking water, point-of-use treatment may be enough. Broader treatment makes sense only when the need is broader.
No. EWG publishes its own health guidelines and interpretations. Keep those separate from federal, state, and utility regulatory standards.
Use information for the utility that actually serves your address. A ZIP-code search can help identify the utility, but nearby water systems should not be treated as if they are the same.
Testing can help when the water changed, when you need to confirm a specific concern, or when the public system information does not answer the question you have about your home.
Tell us what you’re concerned about, what you have already looked up, and what you want to change. You don’t need to choose equipment first.
