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Is Columbus, OH tap water safe?

7 utilities serve Columbus, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Ohio’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

4 of the 7 utilities serving Columbus have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Ohio’s records: Columbus Public Water System, Westerville City PWS, Sanitary District #4 and 1 more.

Columbus Public Water System, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029 and 1 result above the health goal. The worst: PFOA at 5.3 ppt, above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029.

The water from Columbus Public Water System is moderately hard to hard depending on the source, 98 to 125 mg/L (5.7 to 7.3 grains per gallon). How Ohio’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 Columbus’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 Columbus Public Water System’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 Columbus

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 Ohio certifies.

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

  • Benchmark Environmental Labs, Inc.

    Columbus, OH · about 4 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (614) 267-4588

  • Ohio Department of Agriculture Consumer Protection Laboratory

    Reynoldsburg, OH · about 11 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (614) 728-6230

  • Superior Laboratories

    Galloway, OH · about 12 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (614) 870-6826

All 76 certified labs for Ohio

ZIP codes in Columbus

Which ZIP codes are in Columbus: 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: Ohio EPA, laboratories certified/accepted to perform analyses on public drinking water; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Columbus

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

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