Before you send your college kid back to campus, you might consider the quality of the water coming out of the dorm or apartment faucets. In partnership with ZeroWater, Culligan released the first-ever ranking of US college towns based on tap water quality, ranking the largest college towns in each state on an A to F scale for lead and PFAS (“permanent chemicals”). The timing is notable as back-to-school season approaches and water quality is a growing concern for college seniors.
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This year’s incoming class appears to be the most health-conscious so far – nearly 30% of Gen Z and millennials surveyed say health is more important to them now than last year.
The results suggest that many college towns have work to do
PFAS Concerns: About one-third of the cities received a “C” or worse for PFAS contamination.
Widespread water pollution: Nearly every college town surveyed by Culligan – 92% – showed at least one harmful pollutant in their water. New York City was the only city to receive an “F” for the lead standards.
Scary pay rates: Only 8 of the 50 college towns had water quality that met EPA lead standards.
College towns with the best water (absolute)
- Albuquerque, NM – University of New Mexico
- Blacksburg, VA – Virginia Tech
- Boise, ID – Boise State
- Durham, NH – University of New Hampshire
- Morgantown, WV – West Virginia University
College towns with the worst water (of all)
- Columbia, SC – University of South Carolina
- Tempe, AZ – Arizona State
- Newark, DE – University of Delaware
- New York City, NY – NYU
- New Brunswick, NJ – Rutgers
See the full list here.
Why is it important
About 30% of Gen Z and millennials noted that health is more important to them this year than last, including water quality. The standard gives students who don’t have an easy way to check what’s really coming out of the tap in their new college town and decide if some sort of filtering is necessary.
Why testing is important
CNET spoke to water quality experts while testing countertop filters earlier this year. Dr. Eric Roy explained that the most dangerous contaminants, including lead and PFAS, rarely affect the taste or smell of water, emphasizing the importance of testing local water, especially if it comes from a source. TapScore is one of the best services for home water quality and lab testing for around $299.
Test method
Culligan ZeroWater analyzed public water quality data for the largest university water system in each state (with 2024 IPEDS registration data), benchmarking lead levels against the EPA action limit of 10 ppb and five PFAS chemicals (PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, PFNA, GenX) against UCMR5 monitoring data from 202523 collected.
See the full history
