Richland, Washington

What is the Water Quality in Richland, Washington?

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

Most of their 27 contaminants have cancer-causing attributes.

• Arsenic is at extremely high levels: 377x health guidelines.
• Chloroform is at extremely high levels: 75x health guidelines.
• Haloacetic acids (HAA5) are at extremely high levels: 266x health guidelines.
• Haloacetic acids (HAA9) are at extremely high levels: 534x health guidelines.
  • HAA5 and HAA9 are byproducts of chlorine treatment, a common method of disinfecting water supplies.

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

What’s in Richland water?

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

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

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

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

Does Richland have Lead contamination?

Yes, Richland has lead in its water. The most recent Lead samples collected from 2017 through 2018 showed concentrations up to 2.0 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 Richland’s water come from?

Richland’s water comes from the City of Kennewick – Columbia River watershed.

Both water sources in the City of Kennewick – Columbia River watershed are in Impaired or Unknown condition. These include:

• Columbia River
• Snake River

Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition.

Learn more from How’s My Waterway

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

What Can You Do?

Information about water quality in Richland, Washington 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 81% of contaminants in your drinking water.
  • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of Lead in Richland 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 more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but are much more effective.
  • They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
    • Arsenic
    • Barium
    • Bromoform
    • Chloroform
    • Chromium (hexavalent)
    • Chromium (total)
    • Fluoride
    • Haloacetic acids (HAA5 and HAA9)
    • Nitrate
    • Nitrite
    • Selenium
    • Strontium
    • Total trihalomethanes
    • Xylenes

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.ci.richland.wa.us/ to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other Washington Cities

Washington Water Quality Page