Is the Water Safe in Charleston, WV?
The 2 public water systems serving Charleston, West Virginia (population 307,930) average a Water Safety Score of 79/100, with a worst grade of C. These systems have no health-based violations on record.
Safety & Violations
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Average Safety Score | 79/100 (C worst) |
| Public Water Systems | 2 |
| Population Served | 307,930 |
| Health Violations | 0 |
| Monitoring Violations | 8 |
| Contaminant Exceedances | 0 |
| Enforcement Actions | 15 |
Contaminants Detected in Charleston
| Contaminant | Detected | EPA Limit (MCL) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlorine | 2 ppm | 4 ppm | Within limit |
| Total Trihalomethanes | 40 ppb | 80 ppb | Within limit |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | 30 ppb | 60 ppb | Within limit |
| Combined Radium | 2.5 pCi/L | 5 pCi/L | Within limit |
Detected levels are the highest reported across Charleston systems for each contaminant. MCL = EPA Maximum Contaminant Level, the legal safety ceiling. Source: EPA SDWIS monitoring data.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 2 public water systems serving Charleston, West Virginia (population 307,930) average a Water Safety Score of 79/100, with a worst grade of C. These systems have no health-based violations on record.
Monitoring data for Charleston, West Virginia shows 4 distinct contaminants detected in the public water supply — Chlorine, Total Trihalomethanes, Haloacetic Acids (HAA5), Combined Radium. None exceeded the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level in the reported samples.
Charleston, West Virginia is served by 2 public water systems, together supplying water to roughly 307,930 people. The worst safety grade among them is C.
No. In the reported monitoring data for Charleston, no detected contaminant exceeded its EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL).
The Water Safety Score (0-100, graded A-F) weighs health-based violations (40%), contaminant exceedances (30%), enforcement history (20%), and monitoring violations (10%), using EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) data from the last 10 years.
Request your utility's annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), consider an independent test from a state-certified lab, and use an NSF-certified filter targeting any contaminant of concern. For lead specifically, run cold water 30 seconds before drinking.
More about Charleston
The 2 public water systems serving Charleston, West Virginia (population 307,930) average a Water Safety Score of 79/100, with a worst grade of C. These systems have no health-based violations on record.
The data source behind this answer is the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS). Every figure on the page traces back to that source; the methodology page describes the inputs and the refresh cadence in full detail.
For readers turning this answer into action: cross-reference against the underlying the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) record before acting on time-sensitive decisions. The site renders the data as it was published; subsequent revisions can shift the picture, and the live federal data is always the authoritative current reference.
Source: EPA Ground Water and Drinking Water, 2026.