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Tap water report · updated November 2026

Atlanta tap water: no PFOA or PFOS found

What’s in the water Atlanta Department of Watershed Management delivers to 1.1 million people, from national testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the utility’s own report.

Short answer

Atlanta Department of Watershed Management’s annual water quality report doesn’t include a hardness figure, so there’s no published number for Atlanta. Ask the utility, or a home test strip gives you one in a minute. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) 2023–24 testing found no PFOA or PFOS (two PFAS “forever chemicals”) at or above its 4 parts per trillion (ppt) limit. The system had no health-based violations in the five years through September 2026.

Sources: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS 2026Q3 · Sources and method

Hardness

Not published

Test it yourself

Atlanta Department of Watershed Management doesn’t report it

PFAS (PFOA, PFOS)

None found

every sample under 4 ppt

Under EPA’s 4 ppt limit

EPA UCMR 5, sampled 2023–24

Disinfectant

Free chlorine

Carbon filters remove it

Atlanta Department of Watershed Management

Violations

0

health-based, 5 years

None on record

EPA SDWIS, through September 2026

How Atlanta compares with the 40 systems we track

  • PFOA / PFOS

    Not detected

    in any EPA sample

  • Size

    19th largest

    of 40 by people served

Compare every system in the 2026 report →

01 · What it means

What these readings mean for your home

Each reading in plain English: what it is, how Atlanta compares with the other systems we track, and whether there’s anything to do. The tags follow EPA’s limits and reference levels where EPA has one; for hardness, which has no EPA limit, they follow the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scale and Minnesota’s health department. New to the acronyms? Every term, in plain English.

Hardness

Worth knowing

Hardness is dissolved calcium and magnesium. It isn’t a health issue, but it decides whether a softener is worth buying. It’s measured in grains per gallon (gpg).

Here: Hardness isn’t in the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management annual water quality report, so there’s no published number for Atlanta. You can ask the utility, or test it yourself.

What to do: A hardness test strip or a lab test gives you the number in minutes. Then use the sizing calculator to see whether a softener makes sense.

What the research says: Studies tie hard water to more soap use and scale. Observational studies link it with somewhat more eczema in babies, but in the largest trial a softener didn’t improve existing eczema. The studies →

Learn more →

PFAS (PFOA and PFOS)

Nothing to do

PFAS are a family of thousands of manufactured chemicals used in many consumer and industrial products. They break down very slowly, which is why people call them "forever chemicals." PFOA and PFOS are the two EPA regulates most tightly. They’re measured in parts per trillion (ppt): 1 ppt is about one drop in 20 Olympic swimming pools.

Here: EPA’s 2023–24 testing found no PFOA or PFOS in Atlanta’s water at or above 4 ppt, the lowest level labs can reliably measure. 29 of the 40 systems we track can say the same; 11 had a sample over the limit.

What to do: Nothing needed by EPA’s standard. If you want PFAS lower still, the same certified filters apply.

What the research says: EPA and the National Academies link PFOA and PFOS exposure to higher cholesterol, lower vaccine response, lower birth weight and some cancers, mostly over years of drinking the water. The studies →

Learn more →

Disinfectant

Nothing to do

Utilities add a small amount of chlorine, or chloramine (chlorine combined with a little ammonia), so germs can’t grow in the pipes on the way to your tap. EPA allows up to 4 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of either and says water within its standards can be used for drinking, cooking and bathing.

Here: Atlanta uses free chlorine. It’s the one that can give tap water a slight pool smell, and it’s easy to filter.

What to do: For taste, any carbon filter certified to NSF/ANSI 42 for chlorine works.

What the research says: Health agencies call these levels acceptable for drinking and bathing; dialysis and fish tanks are the exceptions. Studies haven’t shown shower chlorine harms skin or hair. The studies →

Learn more →

Health-based violations

Nothing to do

A health-based violation means the utility broke a federal drinking water rule tied to health: it went over a limit, or skipped a required treatment step. Missing a paperwork deadline doesn’t count.

Here: Atlanta’s system had none in the five years through September 2026. That’s normal for a large system: 36 of the 40 we track had none.

What to do: Nothing to do.

Learn more →

How Atlanta compares: highest PFOA or PFOS sample

Parts per trillion (ppt), from EPA’s 2023–25 testing. The dashed line is EPA’s limit of 4.

Atlanta: none at or above 4 ppt. Like 28 other systems we track, EPA’s testing found no PFOA or PFOS there. These 11 did:

  1. Miami33.0 PFOS
  2. El Paso8.5 PFOS
  3. Fort Worth8.3 PFOA
  4. Philadelphia8.1 PFOA
  5. Louisville7.5 PFOA
  6. Tampa6.9 PFOS
  7. Dallas6.3 PFOA
  8. San Jose6.2 PFOS
  9. Cincinnati6.1 PFOS
  10. Columbus5.3 PFOA
  11. Austin4.8 PFOS
Each bar is one system’s highest single sample, not a yearly average. 11 of 40 systems detected PFOA or PFOS; the other 29 had nothing at or above 4 ppt, Atlanta among them. All 40 systems

If you live in Atlanta

02 · The full results

Every PFAS result EPA recorded

EPA’s national testing (sampled 2023 to 2024) found no PFOA or PFOS at or above 4 ppt in any of 12 samples, which puts Atlanta under EPA’s limit for both.

Results from EPA’s national testing program (UCMR 5) for Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, 3 sampling points, April 2023 to January 2024. Concentrations in parts per trillion (ppt).

EPA UCMR 5 PFAS results for Atlanta
ChemicalSamplesDetectedHighestEPA limit
PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid)120none4
PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid)120none4
PFHxS120none10
PFNA120none10
HFPO-DA (GenX)120none10

"None" means every sample was under EPA’s reporting level (4 ppt for PFOA). PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA (GenX) are three other PFAS chemicals; EPA proposed removing their limits in May 2026, and that isn’t final.

03 · Where it comes from

The source, and who else drinks it

Atlanta’s source is the Chattahoochee River, treated at the Hemphill, Chattahoochee and Tom Lowe Atlanta-Fulton County plants.

Atlanta Department of Watershed Management serves about 1.1 million people directly, and 10 other water systems buy water from it, serving about 1.7 million more. If you live in one of them, most of what’s on this page describes your water too, though hardness and disinfectant can change if your system blends in its own wells.

Atlanta’s water system had no health-based violations in the five years through September 2026, according to EPA’s federal database.

Largest systems that buy from Atlanta Department of Watershed Management

  • Dekalb County743,000
  • North Fulton County434,517
  • Clayton County Water Authority298,374
  • Coweta Water & Sewer Auth.92,907
  • Fayette County86,934
  • East Point33,712
  • College Park20,382
  • Union City18,636
  • Fairburn14,000
  • Hapeville5,790

From EPA’s federal drinking water database (SDWIS), 2026Q3: community systems with an active connection buying from GA1210001. Population served.

ZIP codes Atlanta Department of Watershed Management reports serving (34)

30213 · 30268 · 30291 · 30296 · 30303 · 30305 · 30306 · 30307 · 30308 · 30309 · 30310 · 30311 · 30312 · 30313 · 30314 · 30315 · 30316 · 30317 · 30318 · 30319 · 30320 · 30324 · 30326 · 30327 · 30328 · 30331 · 30336 · 30337 · 30339 · 30342 · 30349 · 30350 · 30354 · 30363

From EPA’s UCMR 5 ZIP file. A ZIP can be served by more than one system; your water bill names yours. Look up any ZIP.

04 · Questions

Atlanta water questions

Is Atlanta tap water safe to drink?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn’t grade a city’s tap water as safe or unsafe; it sets limits and records violations. By that record, Atlanta’s water system had no health-based violations of federal drinking water rules in the five years through September 2026. EPA’s 2023–24 testing found no PFOA or PFOS (two PFAS “forever chemicals”) samples above its 4 parts per trillion (ppt) limit.

Is Atlanta tap water hard?

Atlanta Department of Watershed Management’s annual water quality report doesn’t include a hardness figure, so there’s no published number for Atlanta. Ask the utility, or a home test strip gives you one in a minute.

Does Atlanta tap water have PFAS?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) national testing (sampled 2023 to 2024) found no PFOA or PFOS (two PFAS “forever chemicals”) at or above 4 parts per trillion (ppt) in any of 12 samples, which puts Atlanta under EPA’s limit for both.

Does Atlanta use chlorine or chloramine?

Free chlorine. Atlanta’s 2025 report lists chlorine as the disinfectant, with a highest monthly average of 1.13 parts per million (ppm).

Has Atlanta’s water system had violations?

Atlanta’s water system had no health-based violations in the five years through September 2026, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) federal database.

Nearest cities we cover

Sources

  1. 01Atlanta Department of Watershed Management water quality report (checked for hardness), read 2026-11-04
  2. 02Atlanta Department of Watershed Management (source water)
  3. 03EPA, Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) occurrence data, file posted 2026-10-15
  4. 04EPA, Safe Drinking Water Information System via ECHO, 2026Q3 file
  5. 05EPA, PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, 89 FR 32532
  6. 06USGS Water Science School, "Hardness of Water"

EPA system ID GA1210001 · Atlanta Department of Watershed Management