Tap water · MI
Detroit Water and Sewerage Department
EPA system ID MI0001800 · serves about 633,218 people. Every US utility must publish an annual water quality report — here’s the official one (2025), and below it, our plain-English translation.
Read the official report →What Detroit Water and Sewerage Department found in 2025
40 detected analytes from the utility’s own annual report, hand-normalized — nothing was near or over a federal health-based limit.
| Detected | Level | Limit | % of limit | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (90th percentile) | 8 ppb | 12 ppb | 67% | Within limit |
| (TTHM) Total Trihalomethanes | 51.8 ppb | 80 ppb | 65% | Within limit |
| Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) | 2 ng/L | 4 ng/L | 50% | Within limit |
| (HAA5) Haloacetic Acids | 20.3 ppb | 60 ppb | 34% | Within limit |
| Total Chlorine Residual | 0.95 ppm | 4 ppm | 24% | Within limit |
| Fluoride | 0.6 ppm | 4 ppm | 15% | Within limit |
| Bromate | 0.9 ppb | 10 ppb | 9% | Within limit |
| Copper (90th percentile) | 0.1 ppm | 1.3 ppm | 8% | Within limit |
| Nitrate | 0.35 ppm | 10 ppm | 4% | Within limit |
| Specific Conductance @ 25 °C | 217 µmhos | — | — | No federal limit |
| Total Solids | 130 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Total Dissolved Solids | 112 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Total Hardness | 107 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Bi-Carbonate Alkalinity | 71 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Total Alkalinity | 71 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Non-Carbonate Hardness | 36 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Calcium | 26.4 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Sulfate | 26 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Temperature | 13.6 °C | — | — | No federal limit |
| Lead | 13 ppb | — | — | No federal limit |
| Chloride | 11 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Dissolved Oxygen | 10.8 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Free Carbon Dioxide | 9.5 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Magnesium | 7.7 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| pH | 7.2 | — | — | No federal limit |
| Sodium | 6.8 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Chemical Oxygen Demand | 3.6 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Silica | 2 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Potassium | 1.1 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Phosphorus | 0.83 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Nitrate Nitrogen | 0.34 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Turbidity (highest) | 0.21 NTU | — | — | No federal limit |
| Iron | 0.2 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Aluminum | 0.054 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Copper | 0.001 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Lead (avg 2025 city) | 0.001 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Carbonate Alkalinity | 0 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Zinc | 0 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Manganese | 0 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
| Nitrite Nitrogen | 0 ppm | — | — | No federal limit |
Levels and limits are as printed in the utility’s report (“limit” is the EPA MCL, action level, residual limit, or secondary guideline that applies to that row; “ND” = not detected). Utilities publish these reports annually — we re-check every covered utility each July, after the federal publication deadline. Detected doesn’t mean dangerous — most detections sit far below their limits. This is education, not medical advice.
Your tap, if it were a bottle
How Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water stacks up against the bottled aisle
Same minerals, same units — the tap values below come from the utility’s report, placed next to the closest match in our bottled-water database.
| Mineral | Your tap | Closest bottled match |
|---|---|---|
| Total dissolved solids | 112 mg/L | Crystal Geyser at 118 mg/L |
| Calcium | 26.4 mg/L | Eska at 24 mg/L |
| Magnesium | 7.7 mg/L | Volvic at 8 mg/L |
| Sodium | 6.8 mg/L | Acqua Panna at 6.6 mg/L |
| Sulfate | 26 mg/L | Borjomi at 25 mg/L |
| Chloride | 11 mg/L | Summit Spring at 11 mg/L |
| Potassium | 1.1 mg/L | Mountain Valley at 1.2 mg/L |
Tap values are the headline levels from the utility’s annual report (often a highest or average figure); bottled values are label- or report-derived. A closest match is a numeric comparison, not an equivalence or an endorsement.
Zip codes covered
48201 · 48202 · 48204 · 48205 · 48206 · 48207 · 48208 · 48209 · 48210 · 48213 · 48214 · 48215 · 48216 · 48217 · 48219 · 48221 · 48223 · 48224 · 48226 · 48227 · 48228 · 48234 · 48235 · 48238 · 48243
Boundary zips partially served by other systems are deliberately unlisted — check your exact zip.