Community Water System · PWSID MD0060015

City of Westminster

Serves 35,256 peopleSurface WaterOwner: Local GovernmentWestminster, Maryland
Nothing open right now.

On record since 2009: 8 violations. 4 over the limit · 4 missed or late tests. Most recent began 2020-01-01.

For this year's test results, ask the utility for its annual Consumer Confidence Report. Every community system must publish one.

4Over the limit
0Treatment lapse
4Missed or late test
0Notice or report

More violations on record than 88% of active water systems in Maryland. Small systems with no staff chemist often rack up missed-test violations; big utilities rarely do.

The record, year by year

20052009 · Missed or late test: 120102013 · Missed or late test: 120152017 · Over the limit: 22017 · Over the limit: 22018 · Over the limit: 22018 · Over the limit: 22019 · Missed or late test: 12020 · Missed or late test: 120202025
One square = one violation, by the year it began. Empty columns are years with nothing on EPA's record.
50% over the limit · 450% missed or late test · 4

Across Maryland, 72% of violations are missed or late tests and 5% are water over a limit.

How far over the limit

at the limit2×5×10×100×+Trihalomethanes (TTHM)2018-04-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 83.00 UG/L vs limit 80.00 UG/L (1.0×)2018-01-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 86.00 UG/L vs limit 80.00 UG/L (1.1×)2017-10-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 86.00 UG/L vs limit 80.00 UG/L (1.1×)2017-07-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 87.00 UG/L vs limit 80.00 UG/L (1.1×)
Each dot is one over-the-limit violation: the measured value divided by the limit it broke, on a log scale. Most legal limits for chemicals are running averages set for a lifetime of drinking, so “just over” and “ten times over” are very different news. Hover a dot for the numbers.

Lead & copper at the tap

Utilities sample taps in homes most likely to have lead pipes, and report the 90th-percentile result: 9 in 10 homes sampled came in at or below this number. Above the red line (the action level) the utility must act. The action level is not a safe level; EPA's health goal for lead is zero. EPA's file does not date these results, so they are shown highest first.

Lead, 90th percentile 1 result on file · action level 15 ppb

2.4 ppb

Every violation on record

  1. 2020-01-01CryptosporidiumMonitoring, Source Water (LT2)Back in compliance
  2. 2019-12-01CryptosporidiumMonitoring, Source Water (LT2)Back in compliance
  3. 2018-04-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 83.00 UG/L · limit 80.00 UG/LBack in compliance
  4. 2018-01-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 86.00 UG/L · limit 80.00 UG/LBack in compliance
  5. 2017-10-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 86.00 UG/L · limit 80.00 UG/LBack in compliance
  6. 2017-07-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 87.00 UG/L · limit 80.00 UG/LBack in compliance
  7. 2013-01-01Lead and Copper RuleLead Consumer NoticeBack in compliance
  8. 2009-10-01Lead and Copper RuleFollow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/RBack in compliance

System details

Population served35,256
Service connections10,157
Water sourceSurface Water
System typeCommunity Water System
OwnerLocal Government
StatusActive
CityWestminster
EPA ZIP on file21157

Areas served

  • Carroll County

Reading this record

City of Westminster is a community water system that draws from surface water and serves about 35,256 people in Westminster, Maryland. Everything above comes from the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), where states report every violation by every public water system.

Four kinds of violation. Only one is a measurement of the water: over the limit means a test came back above a legal maximum (an MCL). A treatment lapse means a required protective step was not done, such as disinfection, filtration, fixing a defect an inspector found, or filing a lead-pipe inventory. A missed or late test means a required test was skipped or never reported. That is the most common kind, and the most misread: it does not mean the water was bad, and it does not mean the water was fine. Notices and reports covers public notices and the annual Consumer Confidence Report.

Status. “Back in compliance” means the state recorded a return to compliance. “Period ended” means the violation's compliance period is over but no return to compliance was ever filed, which is common in older records. EPA's federal copy lags state records by months, so call the utility for anything current.