Enter a ZIP code or pick city water or a private well. This page sends you to the official lookup. It does not tell you what is in the water.
We do not have contaminant data for any ZIP code, and we do not invent any. A ZIP code here is only a way to open someone else's public-water search. Your utility's Consumer Confidence Report, or a state-certified lab if you have a well, is the record. This is not medical advice.
Picking a source does not load water data. It tells you which official page to open first. The links below stay available either way.
Community systems deliver this annual water quality report by July 1. EPA's finder searches by state and water system, not by ZIP. If the finder has no current report, ask the utility. This lookup does not cover a private well.
Environmental Working Group publishes a search of public water systems. Submitting a ZIP opens their site in a new tab. We do not receive the results, and we do not reprint them. EWG is not your utility and not a private-well test.
Five digits. This does not look up a private well, and it does not show contaminant data on this page.
CDC's page dated July 1, 2024 says to test a private well at least once a year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids, and pH, using a state-certified laboratory. Ask the local health department what else is common where you live. If the results show harmful germs or chemicals, CDC says to use another source and contact that department.
After you have the report, our guide to reading a water quality report and the well-water testing guide explain the categories. They do not fill in your ZIP code either.
Tick the items your report or lab test actually names. The page then points at a filter type and at guides already on this site. Ticking a box does not mean your water has that contaminant. We still have no data for your ZIP code.
Showing every filter type.
Filter type: Not a filter shopping step
If a lab report or a Consumer Confidence Report shows coliform bacteria, CDC says to use another drinking-water source and to contact the local health department. A carbon cartridge is not that step. Do not treat a kitchen filter as a fix for bacteria in a private well.
Filter type: NSF/ANSI 53 lead reduction, or reverse osmosis whose data sheet names lead
Look for a certification that says the filter reduces lead. NSF/ANSI 372 only means the materials are lead-free. It does not mean the system was certified to reduce lead. The under-sink guide records which of our linked models actually list lead on a data sheet.
Filter type: Reverse osmosis whose label names nitrate
Nitrate is a dissolved ion. CDC says reverse osmosis systems may reduce nitrate, and that you should read the system label for the chemicals it actually lists. A carbon filter is the wrong assumption: the Aquasana AQ-6200 performance data sheet, as recorded in our chloramine guide, does not list nitrate. On a private well, a high nitrate result belongs with the health department before you buy anything. If nitrate is why you install RO, retest the treated water.
Filter type: A filter whose certification or data sheet names PFOA and PFOS
Buy the sheet, not the category. NSF/ANSI 53 or 58 can cover many different claims. Reverse osmosis is not automatically a PFAS certification. The PFAS guide names the models whose pages actually list PFOA and PFOS.
Filter type: Carbon certified for the disinfectant your report names
Chlorine and chloramine are different. A data sheet that only lists chlorine does not prove chloramine reduction. For one kitchen faucet, start with an under-sink carbon filter whose sheet names the disinfectant you have. For every tap, that is a whole-house carbon system. Neither one is a softener, and neither one lowers nitrate.
Filter type: A whole-house iron or sulfur system matched to the lab numbers
Orange stains and rotten-egg smell are usually iron, manganese, or hydrogen sulfide at the well. A pitcher does not treat the shower. Match the lab number to the limit printed on the system you are considering. These systems do not lower total dissolved solids, and they are not the first step if the same test found bacteria.
Filter type: A water softener, not a carbon filter
Hardness is calcium and magnesium. Carbon filters leave those minerals in. A softener and a filter are different machines. Read the difference before you treat a salt-free conditioner as a softener. Hardness is a scale problem. It is not the same problem as lead, PFAS, or bacteria.