Water filter service in Philadelphia, PA

What is in the water in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is served by Philadelphia Water Department .

Source water: The Delaware River and the Schuylkill River, both within the Delaware River Watershed. Which of the three treatment plants serves your address affects the water you receive. Reported by Philadelphia Water Department for 2024.

Philadelphia disinfects with chloramine, which is chlorine combined with ammonia, and has done so since the 1970s. Residual levels range from roughly 0.2 to 2 parts per million depending on how far you are from the treatment plant and on the season. Chloramine is the reason a standard carbon filter sized for free chlorine can disappoint here: it needs a longer contact time, and catalytic carbon performs considerably better at the same cartridge size.

Reported hardness is 8 grains per gallon , which is in the hard range. Source: Philadelphia Water Department, 2024. Citywide the figure is roughly 6 to 9 grains per gallon, but which plant serves your address matters more than the average. Baxter draws from the Delaware and runs around 6 grains per gallon. Belmont and Queen Lane draw from the Schuylkill, which is notably harder, at roughly 8 and 10 grains per gallon respectively. Some addresses receive a blend. The Water Department publishes an address lookup, and it is worth checking before sizing a softener, because the difference between Baxter and Queen Lane water is the difference between moderately hard and hard.

These figures describe the distribution system. Your own tap can differ, and for lead it very likely does.

We do not yet hold a sourced figure for every field on this page. Where something is missing it is left blank rather than estimated, because an unsourced number here would look like information.

Buildings and plumbing in Philadelphia

Philadelphia has never had lead water mains, but the service line running from the main into a property may be lead, and in Philadelphia that line is owned entirely by the property owner. The Water Department publishes an online service line materials map covering every property. A record shown as an incomplete record, previously labelled unknown, should be treated as lead for safety. Free replacement is offered from the main to the meter when a water main on your block is being replaced.

PFAS in Philadelphia

Beyond the regulated contaminants, the Water Department also monitors a long list of parameters that affect taste, appearance and equipment rather than health, including alkalinity, aluminium, chloride, colour, hardness, iron, manganese, odour, pH, sodium, sulfate, total dissolved solids and zinc. River temperature at the intakes ranged from roughly 34 to 91 degrees Fahrenheit across the year, and the department does not treat for temperature. That seasonal swing is part of why taste changes through the year on a surface supply like this one.

Source: Philadelphia Water Department, 2024. More on confirming and treating this on our PFAS page.

What this means in practice

• Hard water. Confirm with hardness test strip or titration kit, in grains per gallon.
• Chlorine and chloramine taste. Confirm with free and total chlorine test strip, plus the utility report for the disinfectant type.
• Lead in drinking water. Confirm with certified laboratory analysis of a first-draw tap sample.
• PFAS. Confirm with certified laboratory analysis using an epa-approved pfas method.

What these figures mean for filter choice

At around 8 grains per gallon this is hard water, and that is high enough to be shortening the life of a water heater. Softening pays for itself over the life of the appliance at this level. A salt-free conditioner is the alternative where there is no drain or where brine discharge is restricted, but it reduces scale rather than hardness and the water will still test and feel hard.

Because the disinfectant here is chloramine rather than free chlorine, filter choice matters more than usual. Chloramine needs a longer contact time than standard activated carbon gives it, and catalytic carbon performs considerably better at the same cartridge size. A filter sized for free chlorine is the most common reason people conclude that filters do not work.

Lead is a plumbing question rather than a supply question in Philadelphia, as it is everywhere. What that means practically is that a filter certified under NSF/ANSI 53 for lead at the tap you drink from sits downstream of the entire problem, whereas a whole-house filter at the point of entry sits upstream of nearly all of it and costs several times more.

Filters that apply here

• Lead reduction filters. Point-of-use filters certified for lead under NSF/ANSI 53.
• PFAS reduction systems. Reverse osmosis or a certified activated carbon system aimed at per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
• Water softeners. An ion exchange system that swaps calcium and magnesium for sodium or potassium, which is the only method that actually removes hardness minerals from the water.
• Salt-free conditioners. Template assisted crystallisation changes how hardness minerals behave so they are less likely to stick as scale.
• Under-sink carbon filters. A carbon block cartridge on the cold line under the sink.
• Reverse osmosis, tank. A membrane system under the sink that produces treated water to a dedicated tap and stores it in a small pressure tank.

Installation in Philadelphia

• Free water testing. Typically 45 to 60 minutes.
• Whole-house filter installation. Typically 3 to 5 hours.
• Under-sink reverse osmosis installation. Typically 2 to 4 hours.
• Water softener installation. Typically 3 to 5 hours.
• Repair, any brand. Typically 1 to 3 hours.

Renters, co-ops, and businesses

• Options for renters
• Co-ops and condos
• Offices and commercial sites

Local programmes

• Service Line Materials Map. Search your address for the recorded material of your water service line. Published to meet the federal Lead and Copper Rule Revisions.
• Zero-interest HELP loan. A zero-interest loan from the Water Department for homeowners replacing a lead service line at their own cost.

Nearby areas

• Upper Darby, PA , Delaware County
• Bethlehem, PA , Northampton County
• Allentown, PA , Lehigh County
• Reading, PA , Berks County
• Lancaster, PA , Lancaster County
• Scranton, PA , Lackawanna County

Sources

• Philadelphia Water Department, 2024.
• Philadelphia Water Department, 2024.
• Philadelphia Water Department, 2026.
• Population: US Census Bureau sub-county population estimates, Vintage 2024 (POPESTIMATE2024).