Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Is Albuquerque, NM tap water safe?

4 utilities serve Albuquerque, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and New Mexico’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

2 of the 4 utilities serving Albuquerque have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and New Mexico’s records: University of New Mexico and Sandia Peak Utility.

Albuquerque Water System, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 71.4 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

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 Albuquerque’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 Albuquerque Water System’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Albuquerque

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 New Mexico certifies.

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

  • ABCWUA Water Quality Lab

    Albuquerque, NM · under a mile

    Certified for bacteria, lead and copper

    (505) 289-3499

  • Environmental Testing Services Co., Inc.

    Albuquerque, NM · under a mile

    Certified for bacteria

    (505) 881-0243

  • Eurofins Environmental Testing South Central

    Albuquerque, NM · under a mile

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

    (505) 345-3975

New Mexico Environment Department: Water fairs in New Mexico communities, where well owners bring in a quart of well water to be tested for arsenic, nitrate, fluoride, iron, sulfate, pH and conductivity, with results mailed in two to four weeks. Dates are on the department's calendar. Water Fairs, New Mexico Environment Department.

All 44 certified labs for New Mexico

ZIP codes in Albuquerque

Which ZIP codes are in Albuquerque: 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: New Mexico Environment Department, Drinking Water Bureau, laboratories certified to analyze drinking water samples; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Albuquerque

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

What to do next