Is Toledo, OH tap water safe?
Supplied by City of Toledo · serves 360,000 people (133,361 connections) · Surface water · EPA ID OH4801411
Data: U.S. EPA · How we read the data · How we check it
Summary
No federal limits exceeded in EPA data.
- PFAS
- Detected, below limit1 of 29 PFAS found at least once. All averages below the federal limits.
- Lead
- Below action level0 ppb (parts per billion) at the 90th percentile: 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below it. Action level 15 ppb, falling to 10 ppb in Nov 2027. Monitoring period Jan 2026 – now, still in progress (results reported so far). Your home's pipes can make yours higher.
- Violations
- Resolved1 health-based violation since 2016, most recently Mar 2023. One required an urgent public notice within 24 hours (the kind behind boil-water notices), most recently Mar 2023. What to do if you get a notice.
- Built before 1986, or not sure what your service line is made of? Check your service line and test your tap. Utility data can't show your pipes.
- Got a boil-water or do-not-drink notice? What each notice means and what to do.
- Tested your own tap? Compare your result with these numbers. Moving? Compare this system with another.
- Read City of Toledo's 2026 water quality report (Consumer Confidence Report, from the utility). It lists every regulated contaminant tested, including ones not on this page. Questions: (419) 245-1846.
PFAS (“forever chemicals”)
EPA UCMR 5: 1 entry point tested Jun 2024 to Mar 2025. "Average" is the highest entry-point average (non-detects counted as zero), the way EPA compares UCMR 5 results to the limits. ppt = parts per trillion. These results do not determine compliance.
| Contaminant | Highest average |
|---|---|
| PFOA Not detected Limit 4 ppt | – |
| PFOS Not detected Limit 4 ppt | – |
| PFHxS Not detected Limit 10 ppt | – |
| PFNA Not detected Limit 10 ppt | – |
| HFPO-DA (GenX) Not detected Limit 10 ppt | – |
| Hazard Index (a combined score for PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS, where above 1 is over the limit) Not detected Limit 1 | – |
| PFBS Not detected Guideline 2,000 ppt | – |
| PFBA Detected, below limit Guideline 6,000 ppt | 1.25 ppt |
| PFHxA Not detected Guideline 3,000 ppt | – |
29 PFAS tested, 1 detected at least once. "Not detected" means below EPA's reporting limit (about 2 to 20 ppt depending on the chemical), not proven zero. PFAS not listed were not detected. The limits for PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and the Hazard Index were proposed for rescission in May 2026. That proposal is not final. Systems have until 2029 to meet the limits.
Lithium
Not detected in 4 samples (reporting limit 9 ppb). About lithium.
Lead and copper
Latest 90th percentile: 0 ppb lead (Jan 2026 – now (in progress)). Below action level
1 reported result in EPA's records is far above anything physically plausible (likely a unit or data-entry error) and is not used in the summary.
| Monitoring period | Lead (90th pct.) |
|---|---|
| Jan 2026 – now (in progress) | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2025 – Dec 2025 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2024 – Dec 2024 | 0 ppb |
Earlier results (9)
| Jan 2023 – Dec 2023 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2022 – Jun 2022 | 0 ppb |
| Jul 2021 – Dec 2021 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2020 – Dec 2020 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2019 – Dec 2019 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2018 – Dec 2018 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2015 – Dec 2017 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2012 – Dec 2014 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2009 – Dec 2011 | 0 ppb |
Copper 90th percentile: 20 ppm (Sep 2005), action level 1,300 ppb.
Lead service lines: City of Toledo publishes a service line inventory where you can look up what your line is made of. It doesn't publish summary counts.
Look up your address · Source (the utility, collected by us on Nov 14, 2026, not EPA data) · Checking your own line
Lead comes from pipes and fixtures, not the source water, so it varies home to home. The 90th percentile means 9 in 10 sampled homes were at or below it. More on lead.
Violations
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| Mar 2023 | The water was too cloudy too often in a month. Cloudiness can shield germs from disinfection. Urgent public notice required What that means EPA record: Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule · Monthly Turbidity Exceed (Enhanced SWTR) (limit ) Resolved |
Health-based violations mean a contaminant exceeded a limit or a required treatment step was missed. Monitoring and reporting violations mean required tests or reports were late or missing, so the water's quality during that time is unknown. The total includes every violation in EPA's records, most of them paperwork.
Earlier EPA testing (2013–2020)
| Contaminant | Highest | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Manganese | 0.78 ppb | 300 ppb |
| Chlorate | 111 ppb | 210 ppb |
| Vanadium | 0.85 ppb | 21 ppb |
| Chromium-6 | 0.26 ppb | – |
| Strontium | 0.2 ppm | 1.5 ppm |
| Molybdenum | 3 ppb | 40 ppb |
Where it serves
Toledo
45 ZIP codes the system reported serving
43504, 43537, 43542, 43558, 43560, 43566, 43571, 43601, 43603, 43604, 43605, 43606, 43607, 43608, 43609, 43610, 43611, 43612, 43613, 43614, 43615, 43617, 43620, 43623, 43635, 43652, 43654, 43656, 43657, 43659, 43660, 43661, 43666, 43667, 43681, 43682, 43697, 43699, 48133, 48144, 48145, 48157, 48177, 48182, 49267
Nearby utilities
- Findlay City Public Water System Findlay · 43 mi
- Lima City Water System Lima · 69 mi
- Elyria Water Department Lorain · 74 mi
- Lorain City Public Water System Lorain · 74 mi
- Rural Lorain County Water Authority Lorain · 74 mi
- Mansfield City Water System Mansfield · 82 mi
Questions
Is Toledo tap water safe to drink?
Most of Toledo gets its water from City of Toledo. City of Toledo had 1 health-based violation since 2016, all since resolved. EPA testing found no PFAS above the federal limits. Federal data can't tell you about your own pipes: lead comes from service lines and plumbing, so test your tap if your home was built before 1986. For the official word, read the utility's annual Consumer Confidence Report.
Does Toledo water have PFAS?
Yes. EPA's 2023–2025 testing of City of Toledo found 1 PFAS at least once. None of the averages were above the federal limits.
What is the lead level in Toledo water?
The most recent 90th-percentile lead result for City of Toledo is 0 ppb, for the monitoring period that began Jan 2026 (still in progress). The federal action level is 15 ppb, falling to 10 ppb in November 2027. The 90th percentile means 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below this number. Individual homes can be higher.
Check these numbers yourself
Every figure on this page comes from public EPA records. You don't have to take our word for it:
- EPA's own report for OH4801411: violations, enforcement and inspections, straight from EPA.
- EPA UCMR 5 data: the PFAS and lithium results (search the file for PWSID OH4801411).
- EPA SDWIS download: the lead results, population and violation records we use.
- City of Toledo's 2026 water quality report: the utility's own annual report, including contaminants EPA's national database doesn't carry (link checked Nov 14, 2026). Phone: (419) 245-1846.
- City of Toledo website
Found something that doesn't match? Tell us and we'll check it against EPA's records. How we check our data.
Source: U.S. EPA drinking water records and PFAS testing (UCMR 5). How we read the data.