Caldwell, Idaho

What is the Water Quality in Caldwell, Idaho?

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

Most of their 16 contaminants have cancer-causing attributes.

• Arsenic is at extremely high levels: 1,320x health guidelines.
• Uranium is at high levels: 8.8x health guidelines.

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

What’s in Caldwell water?

Here are the top 5 chemical compounds in your water and what health issues they can potentially cause:

1. Arsenic – Potential effect: Cancer
2. Hexavalent Chromium – Potential effect: Cancer
3. Nitrate – Potential effect: Cancer
4. Radium – Potential effect: Cancer
5. Uranium – Potential effect: Cancer

These are five of the 16 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

5 of these contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.

Does Caldwell have Lead contamination?

No, Caldwell does not currently have lead in its water. The most recent Lead samples collected in 2018 showed concentrations of 0.0 parts per billion (ppb).

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 Caldwell’s water come from?

Caldwell’s water comes from the Lower Indian Creek watershed.

2 out of the 4 assessed water sources in the Lower Indian Creek watershed are in Impaired or Unknown condition. These are:

• Indian Creek – New York Canal to Sugar Avenue
• Indian Creek – Sugar Avenue to Boise River

Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition. Indian Creek (Reservoir to New York Canal) and its tributaries are in Good condtion.

Learn more from How’s My Waterway

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

What Can You Do?

Information about water quality in Caldwell 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:

There is one solution that beats Brita, PUR, and expensive whole house systems.

• It costs less per gallon.
• Needs fewer filter changes.
• And it doesn’t make your water taste weird.

• Use Berkey filters with activated carbon to filter out at least 75% of contaminants in Caldwell’s water.
  • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of any Lead in Caldwell water.
  • Using water filtration pitchers (Brita) is not recommended in Caldwell. They have only been found to filter out a single contaminant: Haloacetic acids – HAA5.
  • Note: We may receive a commission if you decide to purchase filters through links on this page.
• To filter out 13 of the 16 contaminants, a reverse osmosis water filtration system for your house is your best option.
  • These are more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but can be much more effective.
  • They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
    • Arsenic
    • Barium
    • Chromium (total)
    • Fluoride
    • Germanium
    • Haloacetic acids – HAA5
    • Hexavalent chromium
    • Molybdenum
    • Nitrate
    • Nitrite
    • Radium
    • Strontium
    • Uranium

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.cityofcaldwell.org/ to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other Idaho Cities

Idaho Water Quality Page