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EPA ID WA5377050 · checked 16 Oct 2026

Seattle tap water: what EPA testing found

Seattle Public Utilities (EPA record: SEATTLE PUBLIC UTILITIES) serves 1,161,961 people in WA from surface water. It also sells water to other utilities.

What the data shows

No PFAS above EPA’s limits, lithium below the screening level, and no health-based violations since 2016 in this data.

PFAS and lithium (EPA UCMR 5)

240 results from 2 sampling points, 14 Mar 2023 to 18 Dec 2023. Averages count results below EPA’s reporting level as zero, as the PFAS rule does. Every number links to EPA’s UCMR 5 Data Finder (search PWSID WA5377050). Limits: EPA PFAS rule.

ContaminantDetected inHighest resultAverageEPA limit
PFOA0 of 8not detected0 ng/L4 ng/L
PFOS0 of 8not detected0 ng/L4 ng/L
PFHxS0 of 8not detected0 ng/L10 ng/L*
PFNA0 of 8not detected0 ng/L10 ng/L*
HFPO-DA0 of 8not detected0 ng/L10 ng/L*
Lithium0 of 8not detected0 µg/Lnone (screening level 10 µg/L)

* PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA limits (and the PFAS hazard index) are in the rule, but EPA proposed on 20 May 2026 to rescind them; not final as of 16 Oct 2026. UCMR 5 results are screening data, not compliance results: compliance uses quarterly running averages from 2029. Source file: EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data (dated 15 Oct 2026).

Health-based violations since 2016

None in EPA’s SDWIS data.

Source: EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts and the ECHO report for WA5377050, retrieved 16 Oct 2026.

Hardness

1.7 grains per gallon (top of the range 0.5-1.7 gpg, 2025; varies by area), from the utility’s water report checked 16 Oct 2026. Size a softener for this water.

Places and ZIP codes served

Seattle.

98101 98102 98103 98104 98105 98106 98107 98108 98109 98112 98115 98116 98117 98118 98119 98121 98122 98125 98126 98133 98134 98136 98144 98146 98155 98166 98177 98178 98199

ZIP codes the system reported to EPA for UCMR 5; place names from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). A ZIP code can be split between systems.