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MCDONOUGH vs ATLANTA

Water quality comparison — risk levels, violations, PFAS records, and contaminants

Quick Answer

Both utilities share the same risk level (safe). MCDONOUGH has 0 open health-based violations and 323 PFAS records. ATLANTA has 0 open health-based violations and 268 PFAS records.

MCDONOUGH

Georgia · GA1510003

Overall Risk Level

No Concerns Detected

No Concern
Low
Moderate
High
Critical

Water meets all safety standards with no detected exceedances.

0

Open violations

323

PFAS records

ATLANTA

Georgia · GA1210001

Overall Risk Level

No Concerns Detected

No Concern
Low
Moderate
High
Critical

Water meets all safety standards with no detected exceedances.

0

Open violations

268

PFAS records

Head-to-Head Comparison

MetricMCDONOUGHATLANTA
StateGeorgiaGeorgia
Risk LevelNo Concerns DetectedNo Concerns Detected
Population Served16,1871,089,893
Open Health Violations00
Total Violations613
PFAS Records323268
OwnershipLocalLocal
Service TypeSurface waterSurface water
City ServedMcdonoughAtlanta

Contaminants in Violation Records

MCDONOUGH

  • Nitrate
  • Coliform (TCR)

ATLANTA

  • Lead
  • Nitrate
  • Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)
  • Total Trihalomethanes (TTHMs)

Key Differences

MCDONOUGH has 323 PFAS records vs. 268 for ATLANTA.

What Should I Do?

If either utility shows open violations or elevated PFAS records, consider:

  • Installing a reverse osmosis filter — removes PFAS, lead, arsenic, nitrates, and most heavy metals.
  • Requesting your utility’s annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) for the most current test results.
  • Ordering a certified lab water test if you want contaminant-specific data for your address.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is safer — MCDONOUGH or ATLANTA?

Both utilities share the same risk level (safe). Both utilities have similar violation profiles — review the full data above to decide based on specific contaminants that concern you.

What does "open health-based violation" mean?

An open health-based violation means a water system has exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) or failed to meet a treatment technique — and the violation has not yet been resolved. These are the most serious type of water quality violations.

How current is this data?

Violation data comes from EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), which is updated as utilities report. PFAS data comes from EPA's UCMR 5 monitoring (2023–2025). Risk levels are recalculated daily.

What does PWSID mean?

PWSID stands for Public Water System ID — a unique federal identifier assigned to each community water system. You can use it to look up a system in EPA's ECHO database.

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