Danbury, Connecticut

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury, Connecticut

Water Quality in Danbury, Connecticut

Watershed: Headwaters – Still River

What is the water quality like in Danbury, CT?

Let’s dive deeper into what’s in Danbury water.

What’s in Danbury 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 – Potential effect: Cancer
  4. Hexavalent Chromium – Potential effect: Cancer
  5. Total trihalomethanes – Potential effect: Cancer

These are five of the 19 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

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

See the What Can You Do? section below for all of the contaminants you can filter out and how to do it.

Where does Danbury’s water come from?

Danbury’s water comes from the Headwaters – Still River watershed.

8 of the 11 EPA assessed water sources in the Headwaters – Still River watershed are in Impaired condition. These include:

  • Kohanza Brook
  • Lake Kenosia
  • Miry Brook
  • Padanaram Brook
  • Still River – 3 sections
  • Sympaug Brook – 1 section

Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition. Bethel Reservoir Brook and one section each of Still River and Sympaug Brook are in in Good 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 Danbury’s water.

Conclusion – What Can You Do?

Information about water quality can be surprising.

But there’s no reason to lose hope. There are things you can do in your household as well as things you can do at a community level.

In Your Household:

  • Use Berkey filters with activated carbon to filter out 16 of the 19 contaminants in your drinking water.
    • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of Lead in Danbury water.
    • Brita can filter 10 (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 17 of the 19 contaminants, consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your house.
    • These are more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but can be more effective.
    • They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:

*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.danbury-ct.gov/government/ to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other Connecticut Cities

Connecticut Water Quality Page

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