Casper, Wyoming

What is the Water Quality in Casper, Wyoming?

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

Most of their 27 contaminants have cancer-causing attributes.

• Arsenic is at very high levels: 36x health guidelines.
• Haloacetic acids (HAA5) are at extremely high levels: 72x health guidelines.
• Haloacetic acids (HAA9) are at extremely high levels: 217x health guidelines.
  • HAA5 and HAA9 are byproducts of chlorine treatment, a common method of disinfecting water supplies.
• Radium is at very high levels: 39x health guidelines.

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

What’s in Casper water?

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

1. Bromodichloromethane – Potential effect: Cancer
2. Chloroform – Potential effect: Cancer
3. Haloacetic acids (HAA5 and HAA9) – Potential effect: Cancer
4. Radium – Potential effect: Cancer
5. Total trihalomethanes – Potential effect: Cancer

These are five of the 27 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

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

Does Casper have Lead contamination?

Yes, Casper has lead in its water. The most recent Lead samples collected from 2015 through 2017 showed concentrations up to 1.0 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 Casper’s water come from?

Casper’s water comes from the Sage Creek – North Platte River watershed.

1 of the 2 water sources in the Sage Creek – North Platte River watershed is in Impaired condition. This is Casper Creek.

The other water source, North Platte River, is rated in Good condition.

Learn more from How’s My Waterway

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

What Can You Do?

Information about water quality in Casper 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 82% of contaminants in your drinking water.
  • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of Lead in Casper water.
  • Brita can filter 14 of 27 contaminants and Lead depending on the filter.
  • Note: We may receive a commission if you decide to purchase filters through links on this page.
• To filter out 24 of the 27 contaminants, consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your house.
  • These are typically more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but are much more effective.
  • They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
    • Arsenic
    • Bromate – Labeled a carcinogen. Found in Dasani water in the early 2000s. (source)
    • Bromoform – Can irritate the respiratory tract, the eyes, and the skin.
    • Chloroform
    • Chromium (hexavalent)
    • Fluoride
    • Haloacetic acids (HAA5 and HAA9)
    • Molybdenum
    • Nitrate
    • Nitrite
    • Radium
    • Selenium
    • Strontium
    • Total trihalomethanes
    • 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.casperwy.gov/ to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other Wyoming Cities

Wyoming Water Quality Page