Water in Georgia.
Metro Atlanta and most of north Georgia rely on river-fed surface water; coastal counties draw from the Floridan aquifer. PFAS contamination from carpet and textile manufacturing in Dalton is among the worst-documented in the Southeast.
Rome, Georgia's water system has been ground zero for PFAS litigation against carpet manufacturers.
How Georgia regulates drinking water.
Federal SDWA primacy. No state MCLs stricter than federal. Significant PFAS litigation history in Northwest Georgia carpet corridor.
Georgia's water history, in order.
The contamination events, regulatory shifts, and major settlements that define how this state thinks about drinking water today.
- 2016
PFAS contamination from carpet manufacturers documented in Rome and Calhoun.
- 2019
Rome wins $50M+ settlement against 3M, Daikin, and others for PFAS contamination.
- 2022
PFAS class action settled for over $850M with carpet industry defendants.
The actual water you drink.
The physical rivers, aquifers, lakes, and reservoirs that feed Georgia's public water systems. Source quality is the foundation of tap quality — and where the long-term protection fights happen.
- riverChattahoochee River
Atlanta metro primary supply.
- reservoirLake Lanier
Storage reservoir on the Chattahoochee for metro Atlanta.
- aquiferFloridan Aquifer
Coastal GA including Savannah, Brunswick.
- riverConasauga River
Northwest GA carpet corridor — Rome, Dalton.
Source-water mix
~70% surface water, ~30% groundwater
Major cities served
Atlanta · Augusta · Columbus · Savannah · Athens
Who actually serves the water.
The largest public water systems in Georgia by population served. Click your ZIP after to see the full live EWG report for your specific utility.
- Atlanta Department of Watershed ManagementAtlanta1,200Kserved
- Cobb County-Marietta Water AuthorityMarietta metro800Kserved
- Gwinnett County Department of Water ResourcesLawrenceville metro950Kserved
- Savannah Water and SewerSavannah145Kserved
Where the contamination comes from.
Every state has a different industrial fingerprint. The industries below are the dominant historical and active contamination sources in Georgia's drinking water systems.
Northwest Georgia carpet and textile manufacturing in Dalton, Rome, and Calhoun is the dominant PFAS source — among the worst-documented in the Southeast. Coal-ash impoundments at Plant Scherer and other Georgia Power sites raise groundwater concerns.
What state data flags most consistently.
Drawn from EPA SDWIS sampling records, EWG state summaries, and regional regulatory action over the past five years. Read the full deep dive on each.
Trihalomethanes (TTHMs)
Byproducts of chlorinating water. Linked to bladder cancer at chronic exposure.
PFAS (Forever Chemicals)
A class of ~15,000 synthetic chemicals that don't break down. Now regulated for the first time.
Lead
A neurotoxic metal that leaches from old pipes and solder. No safe level for children.
Chromium-6 (Hexavalent Chromium)
The Erin Brockovich chemical. A known carcinogen with no federal-specific limit yet.
Risk isn't evenly distributed.
Residents along the Conasauga River downstream of Dalton carpet mills face the most-documented PFAS exposure. Rural well users face untested geological arsenic and bacterial risk.
~22% on private wells, concentrated in rural North and South Georgia.
What's coming for Georgia's water.
Chattahoochee allocation disputes with Alabama and Florida intensify under drought. Coastal Floridan aquifer saltwater intrusion accelerates near Brunswick and Savannah. Hurricane-driven flooding affects coastal treatment plants.
Voluntary statewide
Georgia EPD offers voluntary lead-and-copper screening for schools. Atlanta Public Schools published district-wide testing 2017-2019.
Five questions for your next Consumer Confidence Report.
Your utility is required to send you a Consumer Confidence Report annually. Most are dense and procedural. These are the questions worth following up on for Georgia specifically.
- 1
If I'm in NW Georgia, has Dalton-corridor PFAS reached my system?
- 2
Does my Atlanta-area utility draw from the Chattahoochee or from a tributary?
- 3
What is my system's coal-ash impoundment proximity score?
Most state regulators allow public records requests for the underlying lab reports behind your CCR — your utility should be able to provide them on request.
What's changed in Georgia water law.
Drinking water regulation moves at the state level as much as the federal level. Below are notable recent bills and regulatory actions specific to Georgia.
- 2022
Carpet industry PFAS settlement triggers state-level water testing expansion.
For PFAS in Northwest Georgia: NSF/ANSI P473 or RO. For TTHMs in metro Atlanta: NSF/ANSI 53 carbon.
We don't recommend brands — the NSF/ANSI certification number matters more than the name on the box.
This is the state. Your address is the answer.
State-level patterns don't tell you about your specific tap. Run your ZIP for the live EWG contaminant report on your utility — or build a personalized Water File for your household.
Source-water mix, utility counts, lead-service-line estimates, and private-well shares are approximate, drawn from EPA SDWIS public data and state primacy-agency summaries. Contaminant rankings reflect EWG state-level monitoring data and regional regulatory action — they are not exhaustive. Timeline events are publicly documented. See methodology for the full sourcing. Search EPA SDWIS for Georgia