Federal Way, Washington

Federal Way, Washington Federal Way, Washington

Water Quality in Federal Way, Washington

Watershed: Hylebos Creek – Frontal Commencement Bay

What is the water quality like in Federal Way, WA?

Let’s dive deeper into what’s in Federal Way water.

What’s in Federal Way water?

Here are the top 7 chemical compounds in your water and what health issues they can potentially cause:

  1. Arsenic – Potential effect: Cancer
  2. Bromodichloromethane – Potential effect: Cancer
  3. Chloroform – Potential effect: Cancer
  4. Haloacetic acids – Potential effect: Cancer
  5. Hexavalent Chromium – Potential effect: Cancer
  6. Radium – Potential effect: Cancer
  7. Total trihalomethanes – Potential effect: Cancer

These are seven of the 18 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

12 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 Federal Way’s water come from?

Federal Way’s water comes from the Hylebos Creek – Frontal Commencement Bay watershed.

All 70 EPA assessed water sources in the Hylebos Creek – Frontal Commencement Bay watershed are in Impaired or Unknown condition. These include:

  • Commencement Bay – Over 50 segments
  • Hylebos Creek – 8 segments
  • Killarney Lake
  • North Lake
  • Wapato Creek – two segments

Ideally, a water source would be rated 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 Federal Way’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 15 of the 18 contaminants in your drinking water.
    • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of Lead in Federal Way water.
    • Brita can filter 9 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 16 of the 18 contaminants, consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your house.

*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.cityoffederalway.com/ to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other Washington Cities

Washington Water Quality Page

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