New Hampshire Tap Water Quality
Check a New Hampshire ZIP Code
Overview
New Hampshire's public systems, Manchester's Lake Massabesic supply chief among them, are clean and compliant. But nearly half the state drinks from private bedrock wells, and that is where New Hampshire's two signature contaminants live: arsenic and PFAS.
The state's granite bedrock naturally yields arsenic (New Hampshire adopted a 5 ppb standard, twice as strict as EPA's), and the Saint-Gobain plastics plant in Merrimack created one of New England's major PFAS plumes, extending bottled water and treatment to thousands of properties. New Hampshire was among the first states to set enforceable PFAS limits.
Common Contaminants in New Hampshire
Roughly one in five private wells exceeds the state's strict 5 ppb standard; testing rates remain the public-health gap
The Merrimack Saint-Gobain plume plus scattered military/industrial sites; state limits among the nation's first, treatment ongoing
Granite geology yields radionuclides in some wells; mitigation is well established
Violations & Compliance
Public systems show strong compliance, with PFAS remediation the active front. The state's focus is private wells, which serve almost half of residents outside any federal rule.
Water Hardness in New Hampshire
Soft, typically 10–50 mg/L. Granite-bedrock reservoirs and lakes keep New Hampshire's municipal water consistently soft.
Hardness affects taste, limescale, and soap — not safety. Compare levels across all cities or read the water hardness guide.
City Reports for New Hampshire
We haven't published individual city water reports for New Hampshire yet. Use the ZIP lookup for a statewide assessment, and check your utility's annual Consumer Confidence Report for local detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources & References
The safety rating and guidance on this page draw on the following sources. See our full methodology.
- •US EPA Safe Drinking Water Act regulations
- •EWG Tap Water Database
- •The utility's most recent Consumer Confidence Report (CCR)
- •WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality