Is Portland, OR tap water safe?
Supplied by Portland Water Bureau · serves 666,200 people (187,700 connections) · Surface water · EPA ID OR4100657
Data: U.S. EPA · How we read the data · How we check it
Most of Portland gets its water from Portland Water Bureau. Parts of the city are served by a smaller system: Rockwood Public Utility District (65,443 people). Your water bill names your system.
Summary
An unresolved health-based violation.
Is it an emergency? No: these findings are about longer-term exposure, and nothing in EPA's data calls for you to stop drinking the water today. If your utility ever issues a boil-water or do-not-drink notice, follow it.
- PFAS
- Not detectedNone of 29 PFAS found above EPA's reporting limits in 6 samples (2023–2025).
- Lead
- Below action level5.01 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
- 1 unresolved1 health-based violation since 2016, most recently Dec 2017.
- 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.
- Tested your own tap? Compare your result with these numbers. Moving? Compare this system with another.
- Read Portland Water Bureau's 2026 water quality report (Consumer Confidence Report, from the utility). It lists every regulated contaminant tested, including ones not on this page. Questions: (503) 823-1251.
PFAS (“forever chemicals”)
EPA UCMR 5: 2 entry points tested Feb 2024 to Nov 2024. "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 Not detected Guideline 6,000 ppt | – |
| PFHxA Not detected Guideline 3,000 ppt | – |
29 PFAS tested, 0 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 6 samples (reporting limit 9 ppb). About lithium.
Lead and copper
Latest 90th percentile: 5.01 ppb lead (Jan 2026 – now (in progress)). Below action level
Highest since 2016: 21 ppb (Dec 2021).
| Monitoring period | Lead (90th pct.) |
|---|---|
| Jan 2026 – now (in progress) | 5.01 ppb |
| Jan 2025 – Dec 2025 | 4.89 ppb |
| Jan 2024 – Dec 2024 | 4.4 ppb |
Earlier results (9)
| Jul 2023 – Dec 2023 | 7.72 ppb |
| Jan 2023 – Jun 2023 | 6.06 ppb |
| Jul 2022 – Dec 2022 | 11.7 ppb |
| Jan 2022 – Jun 2022 | 11 ppb |
| Jul 2021 – Dec 2021 | 21 ppb |
| Jan 2021 – Jun 2021 | 10.9 ppb |
| Jul 2020 – Dec 2020 | 13.8 ppb |
| Jan 2020 – Jun 2020 | 12.9 ppb |
| Jul 2019 – Dec 2019 | 11.6 ppb |
Copper 90th percentile: 1.8 ppm (Jun 1992), action level 1,300 ppb.
Lead service lines: Portland Water Bureau's inventory lists 0 lead, 0 galvanized lines that need replacing, 0 of unknown material out of 189,613 service lines (as of 2024-09-20). As published by the utility.
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 |
|---|---|
| Dec 2017 | The system did not filter its surface water as required, a protection against germs like Giardia and Cryptosporidium. EPA record: Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule · Failure to Filter (SWTR) (limit ) Unaddressed |
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 | 62 ppb | 300 ppb |
| Vanadium | 2.9 ppb | 21 ppb |
| Chlorate | 3,000 ppb | 210 ppb |
| Chromium-6 | 0.089 ppb | – |
| Strontium | 0.074 ppm | 1.5 ppm |
Where it serves
Portland, Gresham, Beaverton, Tigard, Happy Valley, Lake Oswego, Bethany, Milwaukie
52 ZIP codes the system reported serving
97030, 97034, 97035, 97080, 97086, 97201, 97202, 97203, 97204, 97205, 97206, 97207, 97208, 97209, 97210, 97211, 97212, 97213, 97214, 97215, 97216, 97217, 97218, 97219, 97220, 97221, 97222, 97223, 97225, 97227, 97228, 97229, 97230, 97231, 97232, 97233, 97236, 97238, 97239, 97240, 97242, 97258, 97266, 97280, 97282, 97283, 97286, 97290, 97292, 97293, 97294, 97296
Nearby utilities
- Rockwood Public Utility District Portland · same area
- City of Milwaukie Milwaukie · 7 mi · PFAS above limit
- City of Beaverton Beaverton · 9 mi
- Tualatin Valley Water District Beaverton · 9 mi
- Sunrise Water Authority Happy Valley · 10 mi · PFAS above limit
- City of Tigard Tigard · 10 mi
Questions
Is Portland tap water safe to drink?
Most of Portland gets its water from Portland Water Bureau. Portland Water Bureau has 1 unresolved health-based violation on record. 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 Portland water have PFAS?
EPA tested Portland Water Bureau for 29 PFAS between Feb 2024 and Nov 2024 and none were detected above the reporting limits (about 2 to 20 ppt depending on the chemical).
What is the lead level in Portland water?
The most recent 90th-percentile lead result for Portland Water Bureau is 5.01 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 OR4100657: violations, enforcement and inspections, straight from EPA.
- EPA UCMR 5 data: the PFAS and lithium results (search the file for PWSID OR4100657).
- EPA SDWIS download: the lead results, population and violation records we use.
- Portland Water Bureau'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: (503) 823-1251.
- Portland Water Bureau 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.