Utah Water Quality Rankings 2026: Best & Worst Cities

This page ranks the 7 Utah cities whose water systems we have matched to EPA records. Every city starts at 100 points and loses points for health-based EPA violations in the last five years (SDWIS 2026Q2), its most recent Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile result, PFAS detected in EPA's 2023–2026 UCMR5 monitoring, and 2012–2019 compliance samples that averaged near or above a limit. Letters follow fixed bands (A ≥90, B ≥80, C ≥70, D ≥60, F below 60). Cities run from the highest score (Orem) down to the lowest (Salt Lake City); ties are ordered by population served. See the full scoring methodology for every deduction and the data vintages. 1 further Utah city is listed at the bottom without a grade because we have not yet matched it to an EPA water system.

What your city's grade means

An A or B grade points to water that consistently tests within federal safety limits, while a C suggests moderate issues worth watching and a D or F flags contaminants or compliance problems serious enough to act on. These grades describe system-level water leaving the treatment plant — they can't account for your home's own plumbing, so older houses with lead service lines or fixtures can add contaminants after the water arrives. For a contaminant-by-contaminant view, see the Utah contaminant breakdown or drill into the county-level rankings.

What Utah residents should do

• Find your city in the ranking below and open its full report for its violation history, lead results and PFAS table.
• See how Utah compares against the best-rated and worst-rated cities nationwide.
• Test your home's water if you have concerns — the most common issues involve lead, PFAS, and arsenic.
• Check whether your utility still has lead service lines in Utah — EPA's inventory counts lead pipes by water system, a risk that plant-level grades cannot capture. Read the lead guide for testing and filter options.
• If treatment makes sense for your situation, compare certified water filters matched to the contaminants found in your area.

This ranking covers 8 Utah cities. 7 of them are matched to an active EPA-registered community water system (PWSID). Those 7 systems report serving 1,007,311 people in EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS).

Of 7 cities of the 8 Utah cities we can grade from EPA records, 7 cities (100%) grade B or better, 0 sit in the C range and 0 grade D or F. The average score is 93/100. 1 city is not graded because it has not been matched to an EPA system yet.

None of the 7 graded systems has a health-based EPA violation in the last five years; the 27 violations on file in that window are monitoring or reporting lapses.

7 cities have a Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile result from 2020 or later: none at 5 ppb or more — every reported result is well below the action level.

EPA's UCMR5 PFAS monitoring (2023–2026) covers 7 cities: PFAS were detected in 2 cities, and PFOA or PFOS reached EPA's 4 ppt limit in 1 city.

Ogden scores highest (100) and Salt Lake City lowest (84), a 16-point spread.

The clearest hard data for Utah is EPA's service line inventory, updated 2026-08-18 (Q2 2026). 590 Utah systems inventoried 1,006,680 service lines: 270 confirmed lead plus 628 galvanized lines requiring replacement, spread across 7 systems. Only 95,151 lines (9.5%) remain unverified, so Utah's inventory is comparatively complete.

Of the 7 city-linked Utah utilities with an inventory on file, 1 reports at least one lead or galvanized-requiring-replacement line and 6 report no lead with most lines verified. The largest, SALT LAKE CITY WATER SYSTEM (Salt Lake City, 383,612 served), reports 120 lead lines and 102 galvanized requiring replacement.

Our Utah water guide flags arsenic, nitrates, uranium and radionuclides, and disinfection byproducts as the contaminants of regional concern. Arsenic (EPA MCL 0.010 mg/L (10 ppb)) is linked to skin damage, circulatory problems and increased cancer risk; Nitrate (EPA MCL 10 mg/L (as nitrogen)) can cause methemoglobinemia ("blue baby syndrome") in infants under six months; Uranium (EPA MCL 30 µg/L) increases cancer risk and is toxic to the kidneys; Disinfection byproducts (regulated as TTHM (80 ppb) and HAA5 (60 ppb)) are associated with increased cancer risk over long exposure.

Source water explains a lot of the pattern in Utah. Disinfection byproducts are a surface-water signature: chlorine reacts with organic matter in rivers and reservoirs, so byproducts tend to run higher where systems chlorinate surface water. Arsenic and uranium are naturally occurring and tend to show up in groundwater, leaching from bedrock into aquifers rather than arriving from pollution. Nitrate follows fertilizer, manure and septic loading, so it is most often a concern for systems drawing shallow groundwater in farm regions. Lead is different again: it enters after treatment from service lines and household plumbing, which is why the inventory figures above matter more than plant-level results. The Consumer Confidence Report your Utah utility mails each year states whether your system draws surface water or groundwater.

The best water quality in Utah is found in Orem with a score of 100/100 and a grade of A. This puts Orem among the top-performing cities in the country for drinking water safety.

The most concerning water quality is in Salt Lake City scoring 84/100 with a grade of B. Residents may want to consider home water testing and filtration options.

The statewide average score is 93/100, which is 5 points above the national average of 88/100. Over half (71%) of Utah cities score above the national average, though some areas face challenges.