Detroit, Michigan

Detroit Water and Sewerage Department 2024 Water Quality Report (published May 2025). GLWA treats Great Lakes water; DWSD runs the city mains. Tap-water mineral analysis prints total hardness average 100 ppm (range 74–114). Total chlorine residual 0.84 ppm. No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up.

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.

Hardnessavg 100 ppm (range 74–114)
Total chlorine0.84 ppm (range 0.52–0.88)
TTHMs45.3 ppb LRAA (range 14.0–58.0)
HAA524.5 ppb LRAA (range 3.1–32.0)

On the report

Water utility: Detroit Water and Sewerage Department / Great Lakes Water Authority
Hardness: 2024 City of Detroit tap-water mineral analysis — total hardness average 100 ppm as CaCO3, maximum 114, minimum 74. One mineral-analysis table, not two supply columns we blended. — Detroit Water and Sewerage Department 2024 Water Quality Report
Disinfectant: Total chlorine residual 0.84 ppm (range 0.52–0.88), MRDL 4, 2024 distribution monitoring. Printed as total chlorine residual. — Detroit Water and Sewerage Department 2024 Water Quality Report
Brine / salt to the sewer: No district prohibition found in current research. No Detroit or GLWA 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
Lead (90th percentile)The 2024 report prints Michigan Lead and Copper Rule tap sampling. That is a 90th-percentile statistic, not every address.Lead 13 ppb (3 sites over AL 15; range 0–44). Copper 0.1 ppm (0 sites over AL 1.3).2024 Detroit Water Quality Report — Detroit Water and Sewerage Department
PFASThe 2024 report says there were no unregulated contaminants detected during calendar year 2024 in Detroit. This file does not invent a PFAS number.No unregulated contaminants detected during calendar year 2024 in Detroit.2024 Detroit Water Quality Report — Detroit Water and Sewerage Department

Detroit drinking water is treated by the Great Lakes Water Authority and delivered through Detroit Water and Sewerage Department mains. No Detroit or GLWA 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 2024 Water Quality Report (published May 2025) prints a City of Detroit tap-water mineral analysis. Total hardness average 100 ppm as CaCO3 (maximum 114, minimum 74). One table. We do not invent a second supply.

Total chlorine residual 0.84 ppm (range 0.52–0.88). TTHMs highest LRAA 45.3 ppb (range 14.0–58.0). HAA5 highest LRAA 24.5 ppb (range 3.1–32.0). 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 soap will not lather and the glassware looks chalky

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 salt-based softener is the thing that actually removes hardness. Size it from your grains and how much water you use, not bathroom count. It needs a drain.

Shop salt-based softeners

If you only want less scale and you hate salt bags

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.

A salt-free conditioner changes how scale sticks. It does not soften. Soap and spots stay closer to untreated. No brine line.

Shop salt-free conditioners

If the water tastes like pool-plus-ammonia

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.

Catalytic carbon with a chloramine claim (NSF/ANSI 42 for chloramine). Regular chlorine carbon is the wrong box.

Shop catalytic carbon for chloramine

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 RO Shop Waterdrop reverse osmosis Shop 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

2024 Detroit Water Quality Report — Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. Accessed 2026-09-06.
Water Quality Reports — Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. Accessed 2026-09-06.

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