Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Water (PWSA) 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report, PWSID 5020038. Hardness is not printed. Free chlorine 1.03 ppm (range 0.50–1.03). No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up.
- Free chlorine1.03 ppm (range 0.50–1.03)
- TTHMs51 ppb (range 12–112)
- HAA515 ppb (range 7–24)
- Lead (90th percentile)2.0 ppb (range 0–6.4)
Best match for Pittsburgh
Whole-house carbon for chlorine
No district prohibition on a brine drain turned up in the current file.
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.
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Other options that still fit
Confirm hardness on the current CCR before buying
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
Under-sink reverse osmosis
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. Shop Amazon first for under-sink RO, or buy Cloud direct. 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 under-sink reverse osmosisBuy Cloud RO directShop Waterdrop reverse osmosisShop PFAS-listed pitchers
Test the tap first
A homeowner kit is a start. It is not a state-certified lab. Use a certified lab when the decision is expensive.
On the report
- Hardness
- Not printed on the official 2025 CCR tables we opened. Calcium prints 28 ppm (range 18–38) in the distribution system — that is calcium, not a hardness bar we invented. — Pittsburgh Water 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (hardness not printed)
- Disinfectant
- Free chlorine 1.03 ppm (range 0.50–1.03), MRDL 4 / MRDLG 4. Entry-point chlorine 0.30–1.08 ppm. Free chlorine, not chloramine. Narrative says filtered water is treated with chlorine. PWSID 5020038. — Pittsburgh Water 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
- Brine / salt to the sewer
- No district prohibition found in current research. Searched Pittsburgh Water / PWSA and City of Pittsburgh sewer pages for a residential self-regenerating softener or brine-drain ban like LACSD Measure S. None 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
- PFASThe 2025 CCR says Pittsburgh Water had no detections of PFAS or synthetic organic compounds above the printed PA DEP MCLs (PFOA 14 ppt / PFOS 18 ppt). This file does not invent a ppt number.No PFAS detections exceeding PA DEP MCLs of 14 ppt PFOA / 18 ppt PFOS.2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report — Pittsburgh Water
Pittsburgh drinking water is Pittsburgh Water (PWSA), PWSID 5020038, from the Allegheny River. No City of Pittsburgh 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 CCR does not print a hardness row. We do not invent one from the calcium 28 ppm (18–38) distribution row. Free chlorine 1.03 ppm (0.50–1.03). TTHMs 51 ppb (12–112). HAA5 15 ppb (7–24). Lead 90th percentile 2.0 ppb. Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.
Sources
- 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report — Pittsburgh Water. Accessed 2026-09-10.
Updated September 10, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.