Buckeye, Arizona

What is the Water Quality in Buckeye, Arizona?

[Updated: June 9, 2023]

Compared to other US cities, Buckeye water quality ranks in the middle range for contamination excluding Lead.

Most of their 23 contaminants have cancer-causing attributes.

• Arsenic is at extremely high levels: 1,141x health guidelines.
• Haloacetic acids (HAA5) are at high levels: 14x health guidelines.
• Haloacetic acids (HAA9) are at high levels: 22x health guidelines.
  • These are both byproducts of the chlorine treatment process most water supplies go through.
• Hexavalent Chromium is at extremely high levels: 1,450x health guidelines.

Let’s look closer at what’s in Buckeye water.

What’s in Buckeye water?

Here are the top 4 chemical compounds in Buckeye water and what health issues they can potentially cause:

1. Arsenic – Potential effect: Cancer
2. Haloacetic acids – Potential effect: Cancer
3. Nitrate – Potential effect: Cancer
4. Total trihalomethanes – Potential effect: Cancer

These are four of the 23 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

These 10 contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.

Does Buckeye have Lead contamination?

No, Buckeye does not currently have lead in its water. The most recent Lead samples collected from 2015 through 2017 showed concentrations of 0.0 parts per billion.

The legal limit for lead is 15 parts per billion. Being well-below this level is a good thing.

Concentrations between 3.8 ppb and 15 ppb put a formula-fed baby at risk of elevated blood lead levels. Read more about the symptoms of Lead in water.

There is no safe level of lead for humans.

The good news is that 99.99% of the lead can be filtered out.

See the What Can You Do? section below to learn how to filter out contaminants.

Where does Buckeye’s water come from?

Buckeye’s water comes from the Buckeye Valley – Gila River watershed.

Two of the three EPA assessed water sources in the Buckeye Valley – Gila River watershed are in Good condition. These are two sections of Buckeye Canal.

The Gila River from Waterman Wash to the Hassayampa River is in Impaired condition.

Whether a water source is in Impaired or Good condition refers to the quality of these uses:

1. Drinking Water
2. Aquatic Life
3. Fish and Shellfish Consumption
4. Recreation

Learn more from How’s My Waterway

See below for what you can do to improve Buckeye’s water.

Conclusion – What Can You Do?

Information about water quality in Buckeye can be surprising.

But there are things you can do in your home to clean up your water.

To Remove Lead and Other Contaminants In Your Home:

• Use Activated Carbon filters to remove most contaminants in your drinking water.
  • Faucet-mount filters work better than pitchers.
  • PUR and Brita are low-cost and effective.

• To filter out even more contaminants in your whole house, consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your home.
  • These are more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but can be more effective.
  • They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
    • Arsenic – health risks
    • Barium – health risks in water
    • Chromium (total)
    • Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate
    • Diquat
    • Ethylbenzene
    • Fluoride
    • Haloacetic acids – chlorination byproduct*
    • Nitrate
    • Pentachlorophenol
    • Selenium
    • Strontium
    • Total trihalomethanes – byproduct of chlorination*
    • Xylenes
  • Our recommendation: APEC Reverse Osmosis Systems

*Chlorination is an effective method of disinfecting/treating drinking water. You can then use a water filter to reduce the effects of chlorination byproducts to get the safest, cleanest water possible.

In Your Community:

Contact your local government officials and put pressure on them to invest in cleaner waterways and upgraded city water filtration and treatment.

Go to: https://www.buckeyeaz.gov/ to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other Arizona Cities

Arizona Water Quality Page