Anne Arundel County, Maryland: drinking water report. Anne Arundel County surrounds Annapolis on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, with a population…
Anne Arundel County surrounds Annapolis on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, with a population of about 590,000. Water comes from a mix of groundwater wells and surface water purchased from the City of Baltimore. The county's own wells tap the Patapsco and Patuxent aquifer systems. Fort Meade – home to the National Security Agency, Defense Information Systems Agency, and U.S. Cyber Command – occupies a significant portion of the county's interior.
Fort Meade has confirmed PFAS contamination from historical AFFF firefighting foam use. According to the Army's 2024 environmental investigation, PFAS compounds were detected in groundwater monitoring wells at concentrations exceeding 100 ppt at several locations on the installation. The contamination plume's extent and direction are still being characterized, but some off-base monitoring wells in Odenton and Severn have also shown detections.
The Chesapeake Bay watershed context adds another layer. According to the Maryland Department of the Environment's 2024 water quality report, the Patuxent River – which recharges some of the county's aquifers – carries elevated nutrient levels from upstream agricultural and suburban runoff. Baltimore's surface water supply, which supplements Anne Arundel's groundwater, comes from reservoirs that have faced cyanobacterial bloom events in warm years.
Your water source in Anne Arundel County depends on where you live – the county blends groundwater and purchased Baltimore water in varying proportions across the distribution system. That blend determines your contaminant profile.
Check your water for data specific to your area. For PFAS near Fort Meade, reverse osmosis provides the strongest household protection. Our water filter guide ranks systems by certified removal rates. Pull your detailed report for historical trends, and visit our Maryland page for statewide context.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Anne Arundel County, MD.
The EPA places Anne Arundel County, MD in Zone 2 - a moderate-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
45% of homes in Anne Arundel County, MD were built before 1980, and 9% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Anne Arundel County, MD averages 7.1 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide