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Maximum Contaminant Levels
Safe Drinking Water Levels of Specific Contaminants
Listed below are the established Maximum Contaminant Levels published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, adopted by the State of
Pennsylvania and enforced by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The same standards are adopted by numerous other States as part of the Federal Drinking Water Program(s). IT SHOULD BE
NOTED AND UNDERSTOOD that these standards are published for public water systems, not individual home water supply systems. Public water systems are monitored on a regular basis over regular intervals of time
for these parameters. Simple, single samples do not reflect the overall condition of water systems over time. They only give a picture of that one sample. Caution should be exersized when applying
such results to, and forming conclusions about, water systems (from which a single sample is taken and no regular monitoring has been done). Water quality may vary with time, season, use, weather and water
table level, and many other factors.
For quick relocation on this page, pick the category of contaminant for which you wish to view MCL standards, or you may scroll through the entire list slowly. The basic
groups are listed below:
Microbiological, Turbidity, Inorganics (metals and others),
Volatile Organic Compounds (Solvents etc), Trihalomethanes (part of VOC's), Synthetic Organic Compounds (Herbicides/Pesticides and others), Radionuclides, Secondary Contaminants (Non-health items),
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Microbiological
Total Coliform 0 per 100 ml
Fecal Coliform (or E. Coli ) 0 per 100 ml
Turbidity
Turbidity
1 NTU
Microbiological, Turbidity, Inorganics (metals and others),
Volatile Organic Compounds (Solvents etc), Trihalomethanes (part of VOC's), Synthetic Organic Compounds (Herbicides/Pesticides and others), Radionuclides, Secondary Contaminants (Non-health items),
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Metals
Antimony 6 ug/l
Arsenic 50 ug/l
Barium 2,000 ug/l
Beryllium 4 ug/l
Cadmium 5 ug/l
Chromium 100 ug/l
Copper (Vended and Bulk) 1,000 ug/l
Copper (Copper and Lead Rule) 1,300 ug/l
Lead (Vended and Bulk) 5 ug/l
Lead (Copper and Lead Rule) 15 ug/l
Mercury 2 ug/l
Niclel Not Established
Selenium 50 ug/l
Thallium 2 ug/l
Non-metals
Cyanide (free CN) 200 ug/l
Fluoride 2,000 ug/l (2.0 mg/l)
Nitrate (as N) 10,000 ug/l (10.0 mg/l)
Nitrite (as N) 1,000 ug/l (1.0 mg/l)
Nitrate + Nitrite (as N) 10,000 ug/l (10.0 mg/l)
Asbestos 7 million fibers longer than 10um/l
Microbiological, Turbidity, Inorganics (metals and others),
Volatile Organic Compounds (Solvents etc), Trihalomethanes (part of VOC's), Synthetic Organic Compounds (Herbicides/Pesticides and others), Radionuclides, Secondary Contaminants (Non-health items),
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Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOC's)
Benzene 5 ug/l
Carbon Tetrachloride 5 ug/l
o-Dichlorobenzene 600 ug/l
p-Dichlorobenzene 75 ug/l
1,2 Dichloroethane 5 ug/l
1,1 Dichloroethene 7 ug/l
cis-1,2 Dichloroethene 70 ug/l
trans-1,2 Dichloroethene 100 ug/l
Methylene Chloride 5 ug/l
1,2 Dichloropropane 5 ug/l
Ethylbenzene 700 ug/l
(Mono) Chlorobenzene 100 ug/l
Styrene 100 ug/l
Tetrachloroethene (PCE) 5 ug/l
Toluene 1,000 ug/l (1.0 mg/l)
1,2,4 Trichlorobenzene 70 ug/l
1,1,1 Trichloroethane 200 ug/l
1,1,2 Trichloroethane 5 ug/l
Trichloroethene (TCE) 5 ug/l
Vinyl Chloride 2 ug/l
Xylenes (o-m-p Total) 10,000 ug/l (10.0 mg/l)
Total Trihalomethanes
Chloroform, Chlorodibromomethane,
Bromoform, Bromodichloromethane
Total of all above 100 ug/l
Microbiological, Turbidity, Inorganics (metals and others),
Volatile Organic Compounds (Solvents etc), Trihalomethanes (part of VOC's), Synthetic Organic Compounds (Herbicides/Pesticides and others), Radionuclides, Secondary Contaminants (Non-health items),
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Synthetic Organic Chemicals SOC's
Alachlor 2 ug/l
Atrazine 3 ug/l
Benzo(a)Pyrene 0.2 ug/l
Carbofuran 40 ug/l
Chlordane 2 ug/l
2,4 D 70 ug/l
Dalapon 200 ug/l
Dibromochloropropane (DBCP) 0.2 ug/l
Di (2 Ethylhexyl) Adipate 400 ug/l
Di (2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate 6 ug/l
Dinoseb 7 ug/l
Diquat 20 ug/l
Endothall 100 ug/l
Endrin 2 ug/l
Ethylene Dibromide 0.05 ug/l
Glyphosate 700 ug/l
Heptachlor 0.4 ug/l
Heptachlor Epoxide 0.2 ug/l
Hexachlorobenzene 1 ug/l
Hexachlorocyclopentadiene 50 ug/l
Lindane 0.2 ug/l
Methoxychlor 40 ug/l
Oxamyl (Vydate) 200 ug/l
PCB's 0.5 ug/l
Pentachlorophenol 1 ug/l
Picloram 500 ug/l
Simazine 4 ug/l
2,3,7,8 TCDD (Dioxin) 3 x 10-5 ug/l
Toxaphene 3 ug/l
2,4,5 TP (Silvex) 50 ug/l
Microbiological, Turbidity, Inorganics (metals and others),
Volatile Organic Compounds (Solvents etc), Trihalomethanes (part of VOC's), Synthetic Organic
Compounds (Herbicides/Pesticides and others), Radionuclides, Secondary Contaminants (Non-health items),
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Radionuclides
Gross Alpha 15 pCi/l
Combined Radium (226 & 228) 5 pCi/l
Beta Particle & Photon Activity 4 mrem/yr
Radon (Ra) Not Established
The Gross Alpha MCL excludes Ra and U.
The Beta MCL is for man-made radionuclides.
Microbiological, Turbidity, Inorganics (metals and others),
Volatile Organic Compounds (Solvents etc), Trihalomethanes (part of VOC's), Synthetic Organic Compounds (Herbicides/Pesticides and others), Radionuclides, Secondary Contaminants (Non-health items),
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Secondary Contaminants (mg/l)
Aluminum 0.2 mg/l
Chloride 250 mg/l
Color 15 Color Units
Corrosivity Non-corrosive
Foaming Agents 0.5 mg/l
Iron 0.3 mg/l
Manganese 0.05 mg/l
Odor (Threshold Odor Number) 3
pH 6.5 - 8.5
Silver 0.1 mg/l
Sulfate 200 mg/l
Total Dissolved Solids 500 mg/l
Zinc 5 mg/l
NOTE: Values above are mg/l not ug/l. 1 mg/l is equal to 1,000 ug/l.
Microbiological, Turbidity, Inorganics (metals and others),
Volatile Organic Compounds (Solvents etc), Trihalomethanes (part of VOC's), Synthetic Organic
Compounds (Herbicides/Pesticides and others), Radionuclides, Secondary Contaminants (Non-health items),
or Back to top of the Page
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