Examine whether contaminants in your water supply met two standards: the legal limits established by the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the typically stricter health guidelines. The data was collected by an advocacy organization, the Environmental Working Group, who shared it with The Times.
- 1 or more tests taken in the month
- 1 or more positive detections
- 1 or more tests above health limit
- 1 or more tests above legal limit
Algodones, New Mexico. Serves 675 people.
5 contaminants found within health guidelines and legal limits
In some states a small percentage of tests were performed before water was treated, and some contaminants were subsequently removed or diluted. As a result, some reported levels of contamination may be higher than were present at the tap.
|Number of Tests|
|Contaminant||Average result||Maximum result||Health limit||Legal limit||Total
|Positive result||Above health||Above legal||Monthly Testing History Chart key at top of page||E.P.A. regulated|
|Dibromoacetic acid||0.63 ppb||1.26||-||60||2||1||0||0||Yes|
|Gross beta particle activity (pCi/L)||9.53 pCi/L||9.53||15||15||1||1||0||0||Yes|
|Monochloroacetic acid||1.01 ppb||2.02||70||60||2||1||0||0||Yes|
|Nitrate & nitrite||0.48 ppm||0.63||10||10||3||3||0||0||Yes|
|Total haloacetic acids (HAAs)||1.64 ppb||3.28||70||60||2||1||0||0||Yes|
Units: ppb: parts per billion, pCi/L: picocuries per liter, ppm: parts per million, mrem/yr: millirems per year, MFL: million fibers per litre
60 contaminants tested for but not found
1,1,1-Trichloroethane, 1,1,2-Trichloroethane, 1,1-Dichloroethylene, 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene, 1,2-Dichloroethane, 1,2-Dichloropropane, 2,4-Dinitrotoluene, 2,6-Dinitrotoluene, 2-Methyl naphthalene, Alachlor (Lasso), Aldrin, Alpha particle activity (excl radon and uranium), Atrazine, Benzene, Benzo[a]pyrene, Bromodichloromethane, Bromoform, Butachlor, Carbon tetrachloride, Chlordane, Chloroform, cis-1,2-Dichloroethylene, Combined Radium (-226 & -228), Di(2-Ethylhexyl) adipate, Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, Dibromochloromethane, Dichloroacetic acid, Dichloromethane (methylene chloride), Dieldrin, Endrin, Ethylbenzene, Heptachlor, Heptachlor epoxide, Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), Hexachlorocyclopentadiene, Lindane, Methoxychlor, Metolachlor, Monobromoacetic acid, Monochlorobenzene (Chlorobenzene), Nitrite, o-Dichlorobenzene, p,p'-DDT, p-Dichlorobenzene, para-para DDD, para-para DDE, Propachlor, Radium-226, Radium-228, Simazine, Styrene, Tetrachloroethylene, Toluene, Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), Toxaphene, trans-1,2-Dichloroethylene, Trichloroacetic acid, Trichloroethylene, Vinyl chloride, Xylenes (total)