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Is Salt Lake City, UT tap water safe?

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

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

5 of the 7 utilities serving Salt Lake City have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Utah’s records: Salt Lake City Water System, South Salt Lake City Water System, University of Utah and 2 more.

Salt Lake City Water System, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029, 2 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: PFHxS at 18.2 ppt, above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029.

The water from Salt Lake City Water System is hard to very hard depending on the source, 158 to 568 mg/L (9.3 to 33.2 grains per gallon). How Utah’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 Salt Lake City’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 Salt Lake City 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 Salt Lake City

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 Utah certifies.

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

  • Central Valley Water Relamation Facility

    South Salt Lake, UT · about 4 miles

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

    (801) 973-9100

  • Utah Department of Health Division of Lab Services (EPA cert.)

    Taylorsville, UT · about 7 miles

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

    (801) 965-2400

  • Rio Tinto Kennecott Environmental and Industrial Hygiene Laboratory

    Magna, UT · about 13 miles

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

    (801) 569-7952

All 60 certified labs for Utah

ZIP codes in Salt Lake City

Which ZIP codes are in Salt Lake City: 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: Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Drinking Water, certified laboratories; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Salt Lake City

Other towns in Salt Lake County with a page of their own.

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