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Not health advice. Contact your local water utility for concerns.
Data from EPA Water Quality Reports. For official information, contact your water utility or health department.
Side-by-side EPA records for the two public water systems · EPA SDWIS/ECHO 2026Q2 · UCMR5 (2023–2026, July 2026 release) · SYR4 six-year review 2012–2019 · methodology
Memphis has the better EPA record — grade A (100/100) vs grade A (97/100).
METRO WATER SERVICES · serves 778,153
MEMPHIS LIGHT, GAS, & WATER · serves 659,500
| Metric | Nashville | Memphis |
|---|---|---|
| Grade / score | A · 97/100 | A · 100/100 |
| Health-based EPA violations, last 5 yrs | 0 | 0 |
| Health-based violations unresolved | 0 | 0 |
| Monitoring / reporting violations, last 5 yrs | 3 | 0 |
| Lead 90th percentile (action level 15 ppb) | 0.8 ppb (2023–2025) | 4.7 ppb (2023–2025) |
| PFAS detected (UCMR5 2023–2026) | None detected | None detected |
| Primary water source | Surface water | Groundwater |
| Population served | 778,153 | 659,500 |
| EPA PWSID | TN0000494 | TN0000450 |
Green = the better value where the two systems differ. Lead and PFAS figures describe water leaving the plant, not any individual tap.
Water with a clean EPA record still benefits from a carbon filter for chlorine, taste and odor.
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Memphis — it scores 100/100 (grade A) against 97/100 (grade A) on EPA records. Neither system has a health-based EPA violation in the last five years
Nashville grades A (97/100): no health-based EPA violations in the last five years, lead 90th percentile 0.8 ppb, no PFAS detected.
Memphis grades A (100/100): no health-based EPA violations in the last five years, lead 90th percentile 4.7 ppb, no PFAS detected.