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Is Salem, OR tap water safe?

15 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

4 of the 15 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: Royal Estates, Alpine Crest Improvement Dist, Pioneer Park Co - Op Inc and 1 more.

Salem Public Works, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 2.0 ppb, above the health goal. 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 Salem’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

5 more utilities in Salem

By EPA’s estimate, each serves fewer people in Salem than those above.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in Salem Public 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 Oregon certifies.

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

  • Waterlab Corp.

    Salem, OR · about 3 miles

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

    (503) 363-0473

  • Willow Lake Laboratory, City of Salem

    Salem, OR · about 7 miles

    Certified for bacteria, lead and copper, minerals and other inorganics

    (503) 588-6380

  • U.S. Region 9 Lab - Corvallis, OR

    Corvallis, OR · about 20 miles

    Certified for nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, PFAS

    (541) 754-4571

Oregon State University Extension Well Water Program: Nitrate screening of well water at many of its groundwater education events. The screening is free. Water Testing Guidance for Private Wells, OSU Well Water Program.

All 91 certified labs for Oregon

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: Oregon Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, drinking water labs, as listed in TNI LAMS; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Salem

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

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