Washington County tap water: hardness, PFAS and lead

Washington County, Oregon has about 611,272 residents (Census 2024 estimate) and 29 community water systems in EPA records. The largest local system is Tualatin Valley Water District, serving about 224,600 people from surface water.

✓ 0 of 6 largest systems with health-based violationsPFAS detected at 0 of 6 sampled systemsHardness 3.5 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 Washington County water?

Tualatin Valley Water District Estimate: untreated local water, not your tap · Low confidence

3.5 gpg (59 mg/L), soft

Washington County: median of 2,542 results from 300 monitoring sites (streams and wells). Utilities may blend or treat water, so your tap can differ.

Source: Hard Water Map county data, samples through 2025

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 3.5 gpg

For a 3-person home using 57 gallons per person per day and regenerating weekly, you'd remove about 4,190 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 3.5 gpg

Largest water systems in Washington County

The 6 biggest of 29 community water systems on EPA records for this county. Service areas don't follow county lines; your water bill names your provider.

Tualatin Valley Water District

OR4100665 · serves about 224,600 people · Surface water

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

Lead 90th percentile: 5.3 ppb (period starting 2026-01-01). Action level: 15 ppb (drops to 10 ppb on Nov 1, 2027).

EPA ECHO record

Hillsboro, City of

OR4101513 · serves about 92,632 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 2022-01-01) Older result. Action level: 15 ppb (drops to 10 ppb on Nov 1, 2027).

EPA ECHO record

Beaverton, City of

OR4100081 · serves about 88,045 people · Surface water

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

Lead 90th percentile: 2.6 ppb (period starting 2024-01-01). Action level: 15 ppb (drops to 10 ppb on Nov 1, 2027).

EPA ECHO record

Tigard, City of

OR4100878 · serves about 62,500 people · Surface water

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

Lead 90th percentile: 1 ppb (period starting 2026-01-01). Action level: 15 ppb (drops to 10 ppb on Nov 1, 2027).

EPA ECHO record

Tualatin, City of

OR4100906 · serves about 28,106 people · Surface water

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

Lead 90th percentile: 4.9 ppb (period starting 2025-01-01). Action level: 15 ppb (drops to 10 ppb on Nov 1, 2027).

EPA ECHO record

Forest Grove, City of

OR4100305 · serves about 26,838 people · Surface water

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

Lead 90th percentile: 3.6 ppb (period starting 2024-01-01). 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 Washington County water

Is tap water in Washington County safe to drink?

None of the 6 largest systems here have a health-based violation in EPA records since October 2021. Tualatin Valley Water District's most recent lead 90th percentile was 5.3 ppb (2026), 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 Washington County?

There's no published utility figure in our data, but untreated local stream and well samples in Washington County have a median of about 3.5 grains per gallon (59 mg/L, soft). That's a low-confidence estimate of source water, not your tap, so test before you buy equipment. For a 3-person home at 3.5 gpg, our softener calculator suggests a 24,000 grain unit as a starting point.

Is there PFAS in Washington County water?

None of the 6 sampled systems listed here detected PFAS above EPA's reporting levels in UCMR 5 testing.

Which water system serves my address in Washington County?

Most homes are served by Tualatin Valley Water District 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 Oregon 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.