Is D.C. WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY's water safe to drink?
D.C. WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY has a health-based violation on record, but none in the last five years - an older issue, not necessarily a current one. Population served: 632,323, over 133,500 connections.
D.C. WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY's record against the rest of the country
33 total violations and 14 health-based ones put D.C. WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY at the 89th percentile nationally for violation burden, rank 1,360 of 12,903.
How D.C. WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY compares within DC
D.C. WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY's 14 health-based violations sit above the DC average of 9.7, across 3 systems statewide. See the lead and copper guide for why lead counts differently.
Most recent violation on record
The last violation EPA has on record for D.C. WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY is from 2023-01-01 (health-based: 2004-01-10). Last reported to EPA: 05/11/2026.
What kind of problem, specifically
D.C. WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY's flagged contaminants and rule violations, grouped by what they actually mean for a filter choice rather than left as EPA's raw code list:
- Lead & copper - flagged from: Lead and Copper Rule
- Microbial contamination / treatment technique - flagged from: Coliform (TCR)
The most severe category on record is lead & copper, which points toward a lead-class filter if you want to address it directly.
What this data is and is not
This is what D.C. WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY reported to its state primacy agency and EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act - real regulatory record, not a lab test of your specific tap. Between the utility's meter and D.C. WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY's customers' taps is household plumbing, invisible to a system-level record ranked 1,360th of 12,903 by violation count. The guide to what this data misses covers that gap.