Your St. Louis Water Report
1234 Magnolia Ave, Webster Groves, MO 63119
For Alex · Sample data · Generated May 2026
Your utility
Missouri American Water
PWS MO6010716
Source water
Missouri River, Mississippi River, and Meramec River
Disinfectant: chloramine
contaminants above current health-based guidelines were detected at your address.
Your water meets every federal Safe Drinking Water Act standard. Federal limits were last updated in 1998. The guidelines below, based on more recent cancer-risk research, place these contaminants well above modern recommendations.
Above current health-based guidelines
| Contaminant | Measured | EWG goal | vs. guideline |
|---|---|---|---|
HAA9 Legal: No federal MCL | 22.8 ppb | 0.06 ppb | 380× |
HAA5 Legal: 60 ppb | 20.7 ppb | 0.1 ppb | 207× |
TTHMs Legal: 80 ppb | 30.9 ppb | 0.15 ppb | 206× |
Chromium-6 Legal: No federal MCL | 1.26 ppb | 0.02 ppb | 63× |
Lead exposure risk
Service-line material varies by home. Pre-1986 plumbing leaches lead.
Missouri American Water serves the post-war suburban belt across St. Louis and St. Charles Counties. Most newer construction (post-1986) does not have lead service lines or lead solder, but older neighborhoods — Clayton, Webster Groves, Kirkwood, University City, parts of Chesterfield and Florissant — frequently do.
Tap samples at your address may read below the federal action level of 15 ppb. The action level is not a safety threshold — it is the level at which utilities must take corrective action. The CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the World Health Organization agree there is no safe level of lead for a developing child.
Lead can leach into your water from your own home's plumbing regardless of utility-level results. Pre-1986 brass fittings, lead-soldered copper joints, and galvanized pipes are common in homes throughout the MSA. Disturbances anywhere upstream — street work, meter replacement, water heater swap — can release sudden spikes.
Reverse osmosis removes lead at the point you actually drink the water, after every pipe and fitting in your home. It is the cheapest, fastest, most certain way to remove this exposure pathway.
PFAS status
1 detectedPFBA was detected in your water. There is no safe level of PFAS.
- PFBA (perfluorobutanoic acid)0.842 ppt
Missouri American's 2024 testing detected perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) at 0.842 parts per trillion. The EPA has not set a federal MCL for PFBA specifically, so the utility is in legal compliance.
We do not interpret detection as 'fine.' PFBA is one of ~14,000 PFAS compounds — the so-called 'forever chemicals' that do not meaningfully break down in nature or in the human body. Detected levels in your tap water mean measurable accumulation in your bloodstream over a lifetime of drinking.
Health effects from PFAS exposure — drawn from the C8 Health Project covering 70,000+ residents near a contaminated DuPont facility — include testicular and kidney cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and reduced vaccine response in children. The EPA finalized the first-ever federal MCLs for six PFAS compounds in April 2024 at 4 parts per trillion — recognition that prior 'safe' levels were vastly too high.
A 5-stage RO system removes 95–99% of PFAS at the tap. Given that PFAS persists once it's in you, the only meaningful action is to stop the ongoing exposure.
What this exposure is associated with
Cancer risk
Disinfection byproducts (TTHMs, HAAs) are linked in large epidemiological studies to bladder and colorectal cancer. Chromium-6 is a known human carcinogen. Arsenic is linked to bladder, lung, and skin cancer.
EPA, EWG, Am J Epidemiology
Developmental harm in children
There is no known safe level of lead for a developing child. Lead exposure is linked to reduced IQ, learning disabilities, attention problems, and slowed growth. Children under 6 absorb roughly 4–5× more ingested lead than adults.
CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, WHO
Pregnancy complications
Long-term TTHM exposure during pregnancy has been associated in peer-reviewed studies with low birth weight, preterm birth, neural tube defects, and increased miscarriage risk. Hot showers and baths are an underappreciated exposure pathway.
Environmental Health Perspectives
“There is no safe level of lead exposure for a developing child.”
— American Academy of Pediatrics
Not on the federal test list
We can’t show you data on what nobody is testing for. A 5-stage RO system removes all three of the following.
Microplastics
Not tested by the EPA. Increasingly found in tap water.
Pharmaceutical residues
Detected in trace amounts in many U.S. municipal supplies.
Manganese (emerging)
Recently flagged for child neurodevelopmental concerns.
What this means
Your water meets every federal Safe Drinking Water Act standard. Federal limits, however, were last updated in 1998. Independent health-based guidelines from the Environmental Working Group, based on more recent cancer-risk research, place several contaminants at concentrations well above modern recommendations — particularly for households with young children.
A 5-stage RO removes
- Lead and other heavy metals
- Disinfection byproducts (TTHMs, HAAs)
- Chromium-6
- PFAS (forever chemicals)
- Chloramine taste (with catalytic carbon)
- Microplastics
- Most pharmaceutical residues