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Is Salem, IN tap water safe?

3 utilities serve Salem, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and CDC’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

3 of the 3 utilities serving Salem have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records: Salem Water Works, East Washington Rural Water and New Pekin Water Utility.

Salem Water Works, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above the legal limit. The worst: Haloacetic acids (HAA5) at 50 ppb, above the legal limit.

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 Salem’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 Salem Water Works’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 Salem

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 Indiana certifies.

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

Indiana Department of Health laboratory: Test kits for well water: nitrate, fluoride, and arsenic, lead and copper, ordered from the lab and returned by mail. They are open to the public. Nitrate is $10 a sample plus $6.50 shipping per order, fluoride $10 plus shipping, and the arsenic, lead and copper kit $20 plus $6.50 shipping. Water Testing, Indiana Department of Health.

All 81 certified labs for Indiana

ZIP codes in Salem

Which ZIP codes are in Salem: 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: Indiana Department of Health, certified drinking water laboratories; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Salem

Towns nearby with a page of their own.

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