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Is Denver, CO tap water safe?

10 utilities serve Denver, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Colorado’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

1 of the 10 utilities serving Denver has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Colorado’s records: Advenir French Quarter.

Denver Water Board, which serves the most people here, has 3 results above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 3.6 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from Denver Water Board is moderately hard on average, 105 mg/L (6.1 grains per gallon), ranging from 55 to 124 mg/L. How Colorado’s water compares.

A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Denver’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in Denver Water Board’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Denver

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Colorado certifies.

The 3 labs Colorado certifies closest to Denver, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Colorado Department of Health & Environment

    Denver, CO · about 3 miles

    Certified for bacteria

  • SGS North America, Inc. - Denver

    Denver, CO · about 7 miles

    Certified for nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics

  • SGS North America, Inc. - Wheat Ridge

    Wheat Ridge, CO · about 9 miles

    Certified for nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, radioactivity

All 54 certified labs for Colorado

ZIP codes in Denver

Which ZIP codes are in Denver: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: CDPHE certified drinking water laboratories; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Denver

Other towns in Denver County with a page of their own.

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