15 Cities with the Cleanest Tap Water in the US in 2017

Since clean drinking water has become a very serious matter lately, let’s see which the 15 cities with the cleanest tap water in the US in 2017 are. The water issue is one of the most important of all, probably because water is the most vital element of life on Earth. With the pollution levels constantly rising on any environmental field, water is one of the most vulnerable resources.

That is why the most attention is turned to the pollutants of tap water such as toxic chemicals, elements (like aluminum, lead, arsenic, asbestos, etc.), dangerous microbes and bacteria, and of course, dirt. Many of those contaminants are very threating to health, being related to cancer and other serious health conditions. Some of the worst tap water in the US, when it comes to health-threatening contaminants, are from the taps of Pensacola (FL), Riverside (CA) and Las Vegas (NV), according to the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) research on US cities’ water utilities. Even though the US has one of the cleanest tap waters, there are many harmful elements in it, for example, chlorite, chloride, chloroform, etc. as you will see later.

If you’re interested in best tap water in the world rankings, and which are the countries that care the most about clean water, be sure to check out the info on 12 Countries with the Cleanest Tap Water. The proof that some countries invest much in the environment and care about water quality can be seen in the example of Finland. Until some 30 years ago Finland had a great problem of water pollution that came from factories, and it had one of the most unsafe tap water in Europe. Since then the government invested a lot in raising the tap water quality. But, apart from the good drinking tap water, lakes and rivers in Finland remain very polluted.

Even though the US is among the 21 Countries with the Best Tasting Tap Water in the World, there are still many places where municipal water is polluted and very bad for human health. Looking at the state level, some of the worst tap water in the US come from Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Georgia. But state status does not reflect the subject of our issue now, and that is concerning cities with the cleanest tap water in the US in 2017. For example, there is City of San Diego (CA) with the contaminants detected above health guidelines count 9, and then there is probably the best tap water in California coming from San Francisco (with only 3 contaminants that are above health guidelines).

Also, on the question of cleanest tap water comes the question of best tasting tap water in the US. Water taste, like any other taste, is the matter of personal opinion, but probably the most reliable source (if not the most factual one) is the annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, which is the largest competition of that kind at the global level.

Apart from going through winners of Berkeley Springs competition, we have also consulted other resources. From Water Benefits Health we gained information on the safest tap waters in US cities. Then we have checked info provided by ARCADIS from their Sustainable Cities Water Index, where we have gone through the water quality index. After we have gone through the cities proposed on these resources, we have double checked information using the EWG’s (Environmental Working Group) Water Database. We have also used the database to rank the cities with cleanest tap water in the US in 2017. So, the ranking was done by comparing cities according to the number of contaminants detected above health guidelines provided by EWG. Also, we have taken into our research only cities with 20 + thousand residents. That is because in case we started looking for cleanest water utilities in the country we would have ended up with showing up results such as that of Boise (ID) utility, which is one of the cleanest in the country, but only serves 36 people (according to EWG).

When even the cleanest tap water in the US contains very harmful components (and it is often the case that it is better than bottled water), we should really start thinking more seriously about our environment and the consequences of our actions. As we have noted earlier, many of those can cause very serious health issues. Anyway, let’s see which cities with the cleanest tap water in the US in 2017 are:

15. Philadelphia, PA

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 7

Philadelphia Water department supplies around 1,600,000 consumers with tap water. Tap water of Philadelphia has seven harmful chemicals that exceed the prescribed limits. Those chemicals are bromidichloromethane, chlorate, chloroform, chromium, dibromochloromethane, trihalomethanes and hormones.

The following 4 cities on our list of cities with the cleanest tap water in the US in 2017 share the 11th place.

11. Louisville, KY

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 6

Around 764,769 consumers get water from the Louisville Water Company, and even though it has six contaminants which are exceeding allowed limits, this is still one of the cities with the cleanest tap water in the US. Those harmful chemicals are chlorite, chromium, perfluorinated chemicals, radiological contaminants, trihalomethanes, and hormones.

11. Birmingham, AL

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 6

Birmingham Water Works Board utility brings tap water to 591,243 consumers of Birmingham, and in it, there are six harmful contaminants that are above the healthy limits. Those are bromidichloromethane, chloroform, chromium, dibromochloromethane, radiological contaminants, and trihalomethanes.

11. St. Louis, MO

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 6

The utility of St. Louis City delivers tap water to around 319,000 consumers. Of harmful chemicals that are in the tap water of St. Louis, six exceed prescribed limits: bromidichloromethane, chloroform, chromium, dichloroacetic acid, trihalomethanes and trichloroacetic acid.

11. New York City, NY

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 6

Now and then we hear that municipal water in the US is the best in New York City. But we see that is certainly not the case, even while New York is among the top 15 cities with the cleanest tap water in the US. Nevertheless, there are many harmful chemicals in the water of New York, and six of those exceeding health guidelines are bromidichloromethane, chloroform, chromium, dichloroacetic acid, trihalomethanes and trichloroacetic acid.

Up next on our list of cities with the cleanest tap water in the US in 2017, we have two cities that share the 9th place.

9. McMurray, PA

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 5

Pennsylvania American Water Pittsburgh serves around 507,675 consumers daily. Even though it has 5 contaminants that are above health guidelines, it is still one of the cities with the cleanest water in the US. Those contaminants are bromidichloromethane, chloroform, chromium, dibromochloromethane, and trihalomethanes.

9. Los Angeles, CA

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 5

Working on water distribution and purification of watar and bringing the fresh tap water to 3,935,257 consumers, is a huge job. But still, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power does a great job having only (well, only…) 5 chemicals that exceed prescribed limits. In case you are interested which those five are, here we go — arsenic, bromate, chromium, radiological contaminants and trihalomethanes.

We are continuing our list of cities with the cleanest tap water in the US in 2017 with the three cities which share the 6th place.

6. Tallahassee, FL

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 4

You have seen before that one of the worst US tap water comes from Florida, but here we have the city of Tallahassee which makes a better picture of Florida. Tap water of Tallahassee contains some harmful chemical, four of which are above health guidelines: chromium, radiological contaminants, tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene) and trihalomethanes.

6. Miami, FL

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 4

An again, as we have noted earlier, one of the states with the worst tap water is Florida, but it seems that municipal water of Miami is one of the cleanest tap waters in the US. There are four chemicals that are harmful to health and exceed the permitted limits. Those are chromium, perfluorinated chemicals, radiological contaminants, and trihalomethanes.

6. Independence, MO

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 4

With 4 contaminants that are above health guidelines, Independence is still among the top cities in the US with the cleanest tap water. Harmful chemicals that exceed limits are chloroform, chromium, dichloroacetic acid, and trihalomethanes.

5. San Francisco, CA

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 3

San Francisco is one of the cities with the cleanest tap water in the US, according to EWG’s data. There are three harmful chemicals that exceed the proposed limits and those are chlorate, radiological contaminants, and trihalomethanes.

The following two cities on our list of cities with the cleanest tap water in the US in 2017 share the third place.

3. Sioux Falls, SD

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 2

Apart from the water it provides itself, the utility of Sioux Falls also buys and brings water from other public utilities in order to provide enough water for the consumers. The two harmful chemicals exceeding prescribed limits are chromium and trihalomethanes.

3. Emporia, KS

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 2

In the case of Emporia, harmful substances that go over the limit in the tap water of this town are chromium and dichloroacetic acid.

And finally, up next on our list of cities with the cleanest tap water in the US in 2017 we have top two cities that share the first place.

1. The City of Hamilton, OH

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 1

Hamilton Public Water System appears to be one of the best in the US since it only contains one contaminant that overtops the permissible limit (chromium). Not bad score for a utility that supplies more than 60,000 users.

1. Merrick, NY

Contaminants detected above health guidelines: 1

This small town paced on Long Island seems to have one of cleanest water according to harmful contaminants in the tap water. So, that’s why it deserves the first place on our list of cities with the cleanest tap water in the US in 2017. Even though tap water in Merrick contains a lot more contaminants only one goes beyond the limits that are harmful to human health. In case of Merrick water utility that one contaminant is chromium.