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Is Merrifield, VA tap water safe?

2 utilities serve Merrifield, 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

Neither of the 2 utilities serving Merrifield has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records.

Fairfax County Water Authority, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029 and 2 results above the health goal. The worst: PFOA at 7.4 ppt, above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029.

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 Merrifield’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 Fairfax County Water Authority’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 Merrifield

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 Virginia certifies.

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

  • Fairfax County Health Department Joanne Jorgenson Laboratory

    Fairfax, VA · about 6 miles

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

    (703) 277-3253

  • Water Testing Labs of Virginia

    Burke, VA · about 6 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (703) 250-7711

  • Washington Aqueduct Laboratory

    Washington, DC · about 9 miles

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

Virginia Household Water Quality Program, Virginia Cooperative Extension: Drinking water clinics in about 70 counties a year, run through local Extension offices: pick up a kit, collect the sample on the set day, and drop it off locally. Each kit tests well, spring or cistern water for 28 things, including bacteria, nitrate, lead and arsenic. $70 a kit, with funding to help if you need it. Virginia Household Water Quality Program.

All 145 certified labs for Virginia

ZIP codes in Merrifield

Which ZIP codes are in Merrifield: 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: DCLS, drinking water laboratories with certification detail; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Merrifield

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

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