What's in Alexandria, VA tap water?
Alexandria's water (Virginia American Water) is drawn from the Potomac and shares the region's disinfection-byproduct profile, with PFAS and chromium-6 also detected above EWG health guidelines.
Virginia American Water (Alexandria) water quality report, explained
What Virginia American Water (Alexandria)'s own test results show for Alexandria, compared with EWG's health guidelines. Every result here is within EPA legal limits.
Served by
Virginia American Water (Alexandria)
Washington Aqueduct, Potomac River (chlorinated)
14
over guideline
Zip codes covered: 22301, 22302, 22304, 22305, 22311, 22314 and surrounding Alexandriaareas. “× over” compares the detected level to EWG's health guideline, not the federal legal limit.
Measured by the EPA · Alexandria, VA
Alexandria, VA tap water is fully legal.
It is also 2.5× the health standard for lead.
Alexandria is served by Alexandria, City of, a surface-water system supplying roughly 159,200 people. It treats its own water rather than buying it from a regional wholesaler, so what comes out of the tap is its work end to end.
Surface water needs heavy disinfection, and chlorine reacting with organic matter in the river is what creates trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. Those are the contaminants that most often sit above health guidelines here, and they form in the pipes after treatment rather than at the plant.
Every federal limit that applies here is met. Those limits weigh what removal costs. EWG says its health standards are “based only on protecting health and does not consider technical feasibility or the cost of water treatment”. Here is how far apart the two are.
Harm to the brain and nervous system · EPA limit 10 ppb (action level, lowered from 15 ppb, in force November 2027)
Harm to fetal growth and child development · no federal limit exists
Harm to fetal growth and child development · no federal limit exists
Hormone disruption; harm to fetal growth and child development · no federal limit exists
The EPA's latest round found 3 PFAS compounds in this supply. Lead sampling put the ninetieth percentile at 0.5 ppb — meaning nine in ten homes tested below that, and one in ten above it. It has no violations on file.
Alexandria, City of, on the EPA's record
- Source
- surface water
- Connections served
- 26,761
- People served
- 159,200
Levels: EPA Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5, 2023–2025) for PFAS, and the Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile result for lead and copper — the highest reported for Alexandria, City of. Health standards: EWG's published drinking water standards, updated February 2025. Levels vary by sampling point and date, and being above a health standard is not a legal violation.
The fix for Alexandria water
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Reverse osmosis under your sink, for the 14 contaminants over EWG guidelines in water from Virginia American Water (Alexandria).
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Alexandria water quality FAQ
Is Alexandria, VA tap water safe to drink?
Water from Virginia American Water (Alexandria) meets all federal EPA legal limits. However, independent EWG testing finds 14 contaminants above its stricter health-based guidelines, including haloacetic acids (HAA9) and total trihalomethanes (TTHMs). Legal compliance and health-optimal water are not the same thing.
What contaminants are in Alexandria water?
The most notable contaminants above EWG health guidelines are haloacetic acids (HAA9), total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), haloacetic acids (HAA5), bromodichloromethane and 10 more. These are largely disinfection byproducts and trace metals common to the region's water sources.
Does a reverse osmosis system remove these contaminants?
Yes. A reverse osmosis system like the Sanavia Hydra uses a 0.0001-micron membrane plus multi-stage carbon filtration to reduce every contaminant class detected in Alexandria water, at your tap, regardless of what the utility does upstream.
Is there a water treatment company in Alexandria, VA?
Yes. Sanavia Water is a water treatment company based in neighboring Arlington: we test your water free at your tap in Alexandria, VA and install the Hydra reverse osmosis system for $1,250, or $999 if you install it yourself.
Does Alexandria, VA water need a reverse osmosis system?
Alexandria's water from Virginia American Water (Alexandria) meets federal limits, but EWG testing finds 14 contaminants above its health guidelines, led by Haloacetic acids (HAA9) and Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs). A reverse osmosis system reduces them at the tap, and a free in-home TDS test gives you a reading of your own tap first.
The contaminants flagged in Alexandria water
Plain-English guides to what Virginia American Water (Alexandria)testing turns up above EWG's health guidelines — what each one is, and what actually removes it.
Reverse osmosis & water treatment in Alexandria, VA
Virginia American Water (Alexandria) treats this water to the federal standard, yet the contaminants listed above still exceed EWG’s stricter health guidelines — Haloacetic acids (HAA9), Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), Haloacetic acids (HAA5) and 11 more. Most of them either pass straight through treatment or form after the plant, in the pipes between it and the tap, which is why the fix has to be at the tap as well.
PFAS is the reason a carbon pitcher is not enough here. The compounds do not break down, they are measured in parts per trillion, and the federal limit that covers them is not enforceable until 2029. A reverse osmosis membrane is one of the few things at household scale that reduces them rather than passing them through.
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