St. Louis County tap water: hardness, PFAS and lead

St. Louis County, Missouri has about 992,929 residents (Census 2024 estimate) and 6 community water systems in EPA records. The largest local system is Mo American St Louis St Charles Counties, serving about 1,111,000 people from surface water.

✓ 0 of 6 largest systems with health-based violationsPFAS detected at 1 of 3 sampled systemsHardness 13.5 gpg (low confidence)

Public-record figures, not a test of your tap. Not 100% accurate or guaranteed. Confirm with a water test, your utility or a qualified pro before you buy or act.

How hard is St. Louis County water?

Mo American St Louis St Charles Counties Estimate: untreated local water, not your tap · Low confidence

13.5 gpg (232 mg/L), very hard

St. Louis County: median of 1,731 results from 194 monitoring sites (streams and wells). Utilities may blend or treat water, so your tap can differ.

Source: Hard Water Map county data, samples through 2026

County estimates: Hard Water Map (hardwatermap.com), CC BY 4.0, derived from the USGS/EPA Water Quality Portal; file generated 2026-07-22. License

Public-record figures, not a test of your tap. Not 100% accurate or guaranteed. Confirm with a water test, your utility or a qualified pro before you buy or act.

Softener size at 13.5 gpg

For a 3-person home using 57 gallons per person per day and regenerating weekly, you'd remove about 16,160 grains between regenerations. Suggested size: 24,000 grain. This uses a low-confidence county estimate, so confirm with a test first.

Estimate only. Not 100% accurate or guaranteed. Confirm with a water test, your utility or a qualified pro before you buy or act.

Open the softener calculator with 13.5 gpg

Largest water systems in St. Louis County

The 6 biggest of 6 community water systems on EPA records for this county. Service areas don't follow county lines; your water bill names your provider.

Mo American St Louis St Charles Counties

MO6010716 · serves about 1,111,000 people · Surface water

✓ No health-based violations✓ Lead below action levelPFAS detected (1 type)

Lead 90th percentile: 1 ppb (period starting 2024-07-01). Action level: 15 ppb (drops to 10 ppb on Nov 1, 2027).

  • PFBA: highest sample 5.1 ppt (2 of 24 samples); no federal limit

EPA ECHO record

Kirkwood Pws

MO6010430 · serves about 28,000 people · Surface water

✓ No health-based violations✓ Lead below detection✓ No PFAS detected

Lead 90th percentile: <DL (below the lab detection/reporting limit; reported as 0) (period starting 2023-01-01) Older result. Action level: 15 ppb (drops to 10 ppb on Nov 1, 2027).

EPA ECHO record

Pacific Pws

MO6010620 · serves about 6,000 people · Groundwater

✓ No health-based violations✓ Lead below action level✓ No PFAS detected

Lead 90th percentile: 10 ppb (period starting 2022-01-01) Older result. Action level: 15 ppb (drops to 10 ppb on Nov 1, 2027).

EPA ECHO record

Mo Eastern Correctional Center

MO6069017 · serves about 1,100 people · Groundwater

✓ No health-based violations✓ Lead below action levelPFAS: not sampled

Lead 90th percentile: 2.9 ppb (period starting 2022-01-01) Older result. Action level: 15 ppb (drops to 10 ppb on Nov 1, 2027).

EPA ECHO record

Mo American Pevely Farms

MO6031185 · serves about 343 people · Groundwater

✓ No health-based violations✓ Lead below detectionPFAS: not sampled

Lead 90th percentile: <DL (below the lab detection/reporting limit; reported as 0) (period starting 2024-01-01). Action level: 15 ppb (drops to 10 ppb on Nov 1, 2027).

EPA ECHO record

Terrisan

MO6041644 · serves about 240 people · Surface water

✓ No health-based violations✓ Lead below action levelPFAS: not sampled

Lead 90th percentile: 2.3 ppb (period starting 2023-01-01) Older result. Action level: 15 ppb (drops to 10 ppb on Nov 1, 2027).

EPA ECHO record

Public-record figures, not a test of your tap. Not 100% accurate or guaranteed. Confirm with a water test, your utility or a qualified pro before you buy or act.

A PFAS detection is not a violation. Federal limits (4 ppt for PFOA and PFOS) apply to running annual averages, with compliance required by 2029. In May 2026 EPA proposed extending the PFOA/PFOS deadline to 2031 and removing other PFAS limits; not final as of 2026-10-21.

Test your own tap

These are public records for whole systems. Your home's pipes, fixtures and any private well can change what you drink. A certified lab test or a hardness test strip gives you your own numbers. Then use our PFAS and lead filter selector to see which certifications to look for.

Common questions about St. Louis County water

Is tap water in St. Louis County safe to drink?

None of the 6 largest systems here have a health-based violation in EPA records since October 2021. Mo American St Louis St Charles Counties's most recent lead 90th percentile was 1 ppb (2024), below the 15 ppb action level. Public records can't guarantee what comes out of your tap, especially with older plumbing, so a home test is the surest check.

How hard is the water in St. Louis County?

There's no published utility figure in our data, but untreated local stream and well samples in St. Louis County have a median of about 13.5 grains per gallon (232 mg/L, very hard). That's a low-confidence estimate of source water, not your tap, so test before you buy equipment. For a 3-person home at 13.5 gpg, our softener calculator suggests a 24,000 grain unit as a starting point.

Is there PFAS in St. Louis County water?

1 of the 3 sampled systems listed here detected at least one PFAS in EPA's UCMR 5 testing. A detection isn't a violation: federal PFAS limits apply to running annual averages starting in 2029.

Which water system serves my address in St. Louis County?

Most homes are served by Mo American St Louis St Charles Counties or one of the other systems listed on this page, but service areas don't follow county lines. Your water bill names your provider, and its annual Consumer Confidence Report has the full test results.

More Missouri counties

Sources for this page

Data as of October 21, 2026. Figures are copied from public records and combined with our own calculations; they can be out of date or wrong. Tapped Out isn't affiliated with any utility or the EPA. Written and reviewed by the Tapped Out team. How we calculate · All sources.