Athens, GA Water Quality (ZIP 30605)

Quick Answers

Is ZIP 30605 tap water safe to drink? No PFAS above thresholds is reported for 30605 in current EPA data. Lead risk from older plumbing is a separate question; the results below cover the regulated contaminants tested for this system.

What filter should I use in 30605? A reverse osmosis system (NSF/ANSI 58) removes 90%+ of PFAS, lead, and arsenic. For smaller households, an NSF-53 certified pitcher (Clearly Filtered, ZeroWater) works. Standard Brita cartridges are not certified for PFAS.

ZIP 30605 Water Quality Summary

The public water system serving ZIP 30605 (Athens, GA) is not currently reported as having detected PFAS in recent EPA UCMR5 testing, though other regulated contaminants appear in the data below.

Contamination Level: NONE – No PFAS detected in recent testing for the systems serving this ZIP code.

Lead in ZIP 30605 Water

EPA Lead and Copper Rule testing recorded 12 lead samples for the systems serving 30605, with a 90th-percentile high of 0.0195 mg/L (above the EPA 0.015 mg/L action level). There is no safe level of lead for children; homes built before 1986 should use a certified NSF/ANSI 53 lead filter.

EPA Violations Affecting ZIP 30605

The water systems serving 30605 have 5 health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violations on record, including 5000, 8000, Haloacetic Acids. A health-based violation means a contaminant exceeded its federal limit or required treatment was not applied.

About the Data

Source: EPA UCMR5 monitoring (2023-2025), Lead and Copper Rule samples, and SDWIS violation records tied to the water system that serves 30605 in Athens, GA.

Beyond water: other exposures in Athens, GA

Drinking water is one exposure route. These are the other federal datasets that cover ZIP 30605 and Clarke County, GA.

Radon risk in Clarke County, GA

The EPA places Clarke County, GA in Zone 2 - a moderate-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict the radon potential of an area from geology and existing indoor readings - they do not describe any individual home. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among people who have never smoked, and the only way to know your own level is a test kit.

Lead paint risk in Clarke County, GA

Census figures show 41% of homes in Clarke County, GA were built before 1980, and 7% before 1950. Lead-based paint was banned for residential use in 1978, so older housing stock is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This is a statistic about the county's housing, not a test of any particular property - if your home predates 1980, a lead swab test is the way to check.

Air quality in Clarke County, GA

Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) for Clarke County, GA averages 8.8 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual PM2.5 standard of 9 µg/m³. PM2.5 is the pollution fraction small enough to reach deep into the lungs. These are CDC modelled estimates for the county as a whole, not a reading taken at this ZIP code.

Industrial releases near 30605

EPA Toxics Release Inventory data for 2023 records 1 reporting facility within about five miles of 30605, together reporting roughly 226,215 pounds of on-site chemical releases that year. TRI covers facilities above federal reporting thresholds, so smaller sources are not included, and a reported release is not the same as a measured concentration in air or water.