TapMatch

Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore City DPW 2025 Water Quality Report (January 1–December 31, 2025). Ashburton and Montebello plant columns. Chlorine residual printed on both. Hardness is not on the regulated table we opened. No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up.

Cited chemistry for BaltimoreA chart of numbers printed on the utility report, each labeled with its unit. Missing numbers are left off.Chlorine (Ashburton)1.14 ppm (range 0.40–1.14)Chlorine (Montebello)1.20 ppm (range 0.40–1.20)TTHMs77 ppb (range 23–133)HAA546 ppb (range 6–53)WQR
Cited numbers from the utility report. Length follows the printed value against a labeled scale — not a health ranking. If the report has no number, it is not on the chart.
  1. Chlorine (Ashburton)1.14 ppm (range 0.40–1.14)
  2. Chlorine (Montebello)1.20 ppm (range 0.40–1.20)
  3. TTHMs77 ppb (range 23–133)
  4. HAA546 ppb (range 6–53)

On the report

Water utility
Baltimore City Department of Public Works
Hardness
Not printed on the 2025 regulated-contaminants table we opened. This file does not invent a grains number from a ranking site. Open the current report or ask DPW. — Baltimore City DPW 2025 Water Quality Report
Disinfectant
Chlorine. Ashburton plant 1.14 ppm (range 0.40–1.14). Montebello plants 1.20 ppm (range 0.40–1.20). Two labeled columns, not a blended citywide number. 2025 report. — Baltimore City DPW 2025 Water Quality Report
Brine / salt to the sewer
No district prohibition found in current research. No Baltimore City or county sewer residential softener ban like LACSD Measure S turned up. Ask the sewer agency on the bill before you cut a brine drain.

Also around here

Extra context besides the utility report and the chart above — geology, an unregulated table, or a published study. Not a second set of printed tap numbers.

  • MicroplasticsWHO’s 2019 review examined studies that found microplastic particles in treated tap and bottled water in many places. That is a published-occurrence finding, not a number from this city’s water-quality report, and we do not invent a particles-per-liter count for the tap.Microplastics in drinking-water — World Health Organization
  • PFAS (two plant columns)The 2025 report prints a PFAS table with Ashburton and Montebello columns. Those are labeled plant results, not a blended city tap average.PFOA Ashburton 2.9 ppt, Montebello 1.9 ppt (MCL 4, effective 2029). PFOS Ashburton 3.3 ppt, Montebello 1.7 ppt (MCL 4, effective 2029).2025 Water Quality Report — Baltimore City Department of Public Works
  • Lead (90th percentile)The 2025 report prints 2024 Lead and Copper Rule tap sampling (next compliance year 2027). That is a 90th-percentile statistic, not every address.Lead 2.74 ppb (0 sites above AL 15; range <2–7.09). Copper 112 ppb (0 sites above AL 1,300; range 14.4–402.0).2025 Water Quality Report — Baltimore City Department of Public Works

Baltimore drinking water is treated at the Ashburton and Montebello plants and delivered by Baltimore City Department of Public Works (PWS MD0300002). No Baltimore City or county sewer residential softener ban like LACSD Measure S turned up. Ask the sewer agency on the bill before you cut a brine drain. This is not a legal opinion.

The 2025 Water Quality Report (January 1–December 31, 2025) prints chlorine as two labeled plant columns — Ashburton 1.14 ppm (range 0.40–1.14) and Montebello 1.20 ppm (range 0.40–1.20). We do not invent a blend. Hardness is not on the regulated table we opened. This file does not invent a grains number.

TTHMs 77 ppb (range 23–133). HAA5 46 ppb (range 6–53). The report notes Stage 2 compliance is a locational running annual average. Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.

What actually fits

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If a dealer is selling hardness equipment

Two tall mineral tanks and a black brine tank of a salt-based water softener, plumbed with copper pipe in a garage.
Salt-based softener: two mineral tanks and a brine tank.
A single tall tank with no brine tank, installed in a laundry alcove next to a washing machine.
Salt-free conditioner: one tank, no salt bin.

Open the current CCR for grains. This file does not invent a number from a ranking site. A salt softener needs a drain if it is legal at the address.

Shop salt-based softenersShop salt-free conditionersShop water test kits

If the shower just smells like the pool

A single black whole-house carbon tank with a control head, installed in a garage and connected to copper pipe.
Whole-house carbon tank. No brine tank.

That is chlorine. A whole-house carbon filter with an NSF/ANSI 42 chlorine claim is the usual match. A softener will not take chlorine out.

Shop whole-house carbon

If you are shopping a PFAS listing for the kitchen

Under-sink reverse osmosis system with a white storage tank, filter canisters, and colored tubing in a kitchen cabinet.
Under-sink reverse osmosis: filters, tank, and a second faucet.

The under-sink RO we actually run is Cloud RO — NSF/ANSI 58, kitchen tap, not a whole-house tank. Check the exact listing if PFAS is why you are shopping. Waterdrop is a tankless option if you want that path. A certifier-listed pitcher is the cheap first step. Nobody is paying for a medical claim.

Shop Cloud ROShop Waterdrop reverse osmosisShop PFAS-listed pitchers

If you have not tested the tap

A homeowner kit is a start. It is not a state-certified lab. Use a certified lab when the decision is expensive.

Shop water test kits

Sources

  1. 2025 Water Quality Report — Baltimore City Department of Public Works. Accessed 2026-09-06.

Updated September 6, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.