City water records

Madison public water system guide

Confirm whether Madison Water Utility serves your address, find current utility updates and customer help, then open its system profile for dated water-quality results.

Local Snapshot

Available Madison water system context

Madison Water Utility is the linked record for PWSID 11302247. Check the provider named on your bill before using its results or customer programs; city limits do not confirm service.

Associated systems1

One linked profile is shown here. Confirm address-level service with an official source.

Primary PWSID11302247

Use the PWSID when checking official sources.

Latest CCR2025

Issued May 2026 for 2025. Some rows use older sampling periods, including 2023 lead and copper tests.

Associated Systems

Last updated:

Public water systems linked to this city

Does your bill name Madison Water Utility? If so, open PWSID 11302247 for its report results and historical records. If it names another provider, use that provider’s report instead.

Last updated: State data

MADISON WATER UTILITY

PWSID 11302247

View system profile

System-level profile for Madison. Use it to review report-year context, source links, available violation records, contaminant relationships, and limitations.

System type
Community water system
Communities
Madison
Counties
County not listed
Latest CCR
2025

Find the right Madison record

  1. Check your bill for Madison Water Utility before using PWSID 11302247 or its address-based well lookup.
  2. For current instructions, check utility updates or call Water Quality at 608-266-4654.
  3. For a dated measurement, read the full 2025 table and choose a historical year.

Location context: County or borough is not listed in the current city relationship record.

City pages help organize nearby records, but the water system profile is the main record page. A city may have more than one provider, and service areas may not match city limits.

Utility resources

Local water questions and next steps

Start with the utility named on your bill. Madison Water Utility’s address lookup can suggest wells for its customers, while its current updates and customer contacts answer questions an annual report cannot.

Check Madison Water Utility’s address lookup · Check current utility updates · Ask Water Quality: 608-266-4654

Open Madison Water Utility’s detailed record →

Find the right help

Ask about household lead testing

Order a household water-testing kit from the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene at 608-224-6202. Its July 1, 2026 list prices lead and copper at $38 each and hardness at $46. Ask which tests fit your concern and follow the kit instructions. Public Health Madison & Dane County ended drinking-water lab tests on October 1, 2025, but still offers advice.

State Lab public prices and kit instructions

Laboratory prices and sample-collection steps

Residential water rates and other bill charges

The utility labels its residential water rates effective May 1, 2026. The $14 monthly base charge is for a 5/8-inch meter; larger meters have higher charges. Water use adds tiered charges, and sewer and other municipal services are separate parts of the bill. Confirm your meter size and customer class with the utility.

Official current rates, fees, and rate-order link

Compare rates, charges, and customer terms

Understand this utility’s source and treatment

Follow operations and public decisions

Water-use rules and current instructions

Conservation advice is not the same as an activated watering restriction. The utility-linked tariff permits enforcement of municipal sprinkling and emergency-water restrictions through disconnection under PSC 185.37; that provision does not show that a restriction is active today. Check the utility’s current updates and ask Water Quality at 608-266-4654 about instructions for your address.

Utility-linked tariff and operating terms

Current Madison Water Utility updates

Report results, monitoring, and state records

Complete report tables and historical results

The utility’s report issued in May 2026 covers 2025, but its tables also include earlier sampling periods. Start with the date beside each result: the lead-and-copper rows, for example, describe 2023 tap sampling. The system profile keeps all 40 current-report rows and the retained historical reports together with their source notes.

2025 annual report (PDF)

Read all 2025 table rows · Browse historical results by year

Historical state-record discrepancy

Wisconsin DNR’s 2004 and 2008 lead-service-line replacement records include completed events alongside conflicting public-notice status fields. These historical entries do not establish a current advisory or current compliance status.

Source snapshot: . Read the state records. For current instructions, check Madison Water Utility’s updates.

Resource review: . For current notices, check Madison Water Utility’s official updates. This guide does not provide a complete live alert feed or determine whether water at a tap is safe.

Public decisions

Water Utility Board: decisions and participation

The City owns and operates Madison Water Utility. The board’s public records help customers follow budgets, projects and operating decisions. Sources below were checked September 17, 2026.

  1. Find your intended meeting in the official board calendar. Change its date filter to find earlier agendas and minutes.
  2. Read that meeting’s agenda before attending. The August 25 agenda allowed written comments, registration to speak or answer questions, and registration of support or opposition without speaking. Future arrangements may differ.
  3. Ask for interpretation, translation or disability-related accommodation using the contact in your meeting’s agenda. The August agenda offered these services at no cost.

The September 17 calendar snapshot listed a September 29 meeting at 4:30 PM, 119 E. Olin Ave.; its agenda was not yet available there. Recheck before making plans.

Board responsibilities, membership and detailed participation guidance →

Official board calendar and membership · Reviewed August agenda

Report guidance

What else does the 2025 report explain?

The 2025 report explains why a well result may differ from water at a kitchen tap: the utility describes changing well operations and household plumbing, including lead-bearing fixtures. It also discusses road salt in groundwater, treatment at named wells, and how customers can participate in utility decisions. Read those explanations with their report date; use the current utility contacts for a question about your address.

Read the complete six-page 2025 report

  • Questions about a particular home: the report’s well ranges may not represent your tap. Use the utility’s well lookup and ask about the building’s plumbing; a service-line inventory is not a water test.
  • Lead and plumbing: page 4 explains pipe-identification clues, cold-water use, certified lead-reduction filters and laboratory testing. It states that boiling does not remove lead. The detailed system notes preserve the guide and its limitations.
  • Salt and groundwater: page 5 connects historic winter salt use with reported sodium/chloride increases at several wells and describes ways to reduce salt use. This is the utility’s explanation, not a new trend analysis.
  • Language help and participation: the report offers free language services at 608-266-4651. Its printed meeting dates may change; use the official board calendar for current arrangements.

Required monitoring

2026 monitoring requirements and sampling waivers

Wisconsin DNR’s schedule for Madison Water Utility (PWSID 11302247) covers January 1–December 31, 2026. Generated September 16, 2026, it is marked subject to change. These are sampling requirements and dated administrative records, not water-test results or a live compliance assessment.

The schedule includes 244 requirements across bacteria, fluoride, PFAS, volatile organics, inorganics, radioactivity, synthetic organics, disinfection byproducts, lead and copper, and ammonia. It marks 174 rows “COMPLETE”; 70 completion cells are blank. A blank cell does not by itself establish a missed requirement or violation. Additional monitoring may be required based on results.

Requirements differ by monitoring period and sampling location. For example, the lead-and-copper row calls for 50 distribution samples covering two contaminants during June–September. That requirement cannot be reconciled simply by counting the historical samples available on this site. For a household or building-specific concern, use the local testing guidance; a utility schedule does not replace testing at a particular outlet.

Official DNR schedule and source-specific waivers

Browse every requirement and waiver on the system profile →

What the waivers cover

The schedule lists source-specific 2026 sampling waivers for asbestos, benzo(a)pyrene, cyanide, dioxin, EDB/DBCP, industrial chemicals, and pesticides. These are monitoring waivers for the listed group and source, not exemptions from contaminant limits, zero results, or a declaration that testing is unnecessary everywhere.

There are 139 waiver appearances representing 137 distinct rows. Pesticides source 30 and source 31 each appear twice in the original; both appearances are retained below on the system profile. The EDB/DBCP list does not include source 25, and the pesticides list does not include sources 14 or 29. Do not extend a listed waiver to an unlisted source.

The schedule does not provide the underlying waiver decision dates, renewal conditions, or a general finding about variances and exemptions. Those records still require separate review.

Reporting and sampling instructions in this schedule

DNR says to use the correct laboratory sheet for each sample’s period, location, and sample group. Its schedule warns that failure to complete a requirement may result in a monitoring violation; that warning is not a finding that a listed blank row is a violation.

The schedule says the utility must prepare and distribute the previous calendar year’s Consumer Confidence Report by July 1, and send DNR the certification form and a copy of the report by July 1.

Wholesale systems must provide relevant monitoring and compliance data to receiving systems for their reports by April 1, unless the parties agree to a different date in their contract. The wholesaler must provide written notification to DNR that it complied with this requirement.

The source header lists a population of 272,000, sampler “WATER QUALITY MGR JOSEPH GRANDE”, and owner “GEN MGR CHRISTINE KNAPP”. These are September 16 snapshot fields, not independently verified current staffing or population. It directs corrections to DNR representative Amy Kubly, 608-219-3068, [email protected]; confirm current contact details in the official schedule.

Rates and billing

Water rates, other bill charges, and customer terms

Confirm Madison Water Utility is the provider on your bill, then check your meter size and customer class. A 5/8-inch water meter has a $14.00 monthly service charge before water-use charges. Larger meters cost more, and master-metered buildings use different volume rates from individually metered homes. The water charge is only part of a Municipal Services Bill.

The utility’s webpage labels water rates effective May 1, 2026. The schedules below were reviewed September 17, 2026. For an actual bill, a leak adjustment, or payment arrangements, contact billing at 608-266-4641. MadCAP eligibility and application steps are available separately on this page.

Sewer adds wastewater-use and meter-based demand charges. Stormwater is based on parcel area, while forestry, landfill remediation, and resource recovery have their own classifications. Do not multiply your gallons by the water rate and treat that as the total bill.

If a bill is difficult to pay or seems wrong, contact the utility promptly about an explanation, a payment arrangement, or assistance. The tariff includes conditional leak adjustments and a billing-dispute process; eligibility depends on the circumstances.

Compare all customer classes, municipal charges, and billing terms →
About the dates and terms in the linked tariff

The utility-linked water PDF identifies docket 3280-WR-117, amendment 95, but its tariff sheets print “EFFECTIVE: =TBD=”. The May 1, 2026 date above comes from the utility webpage. The PDF filename contains 2025; that does not establish an effective date. Confirm the applicable current tariff with the utility for an account-specific decision.

The PDF also includes an older assistance schedule with an explicit termination clause and references to schedules listed as deleted. These source details are preserved in the detailed system record; the older water credits are not presented as current MadCAP benefits.

Utility’s current rates and fees page
Residential water: meter charge and monthly usage tiers

The residential Mg-1R schedule covers individually metered single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, condominiums, apartment buildings and mobile-home parks. A master-metered building has a different customer class. The service charge depends on meter size and is added to the charge for water used.

The same meter-size service charges also appear in the multifamily, duplex, commercial, industrial and public-authority schedules (PDF pages 4–8). Their usage rates are listed in the other metered customer classes section of the system record.

Monthly water service charges

Meter size (inches)Monthly charge
5/8$14.00
3/4$18.00
1$24.20
1¼$33.70
1½$42.90
2$66.60
3$111.70
4$172.90
6$314.40
8$482.70
10$704.60
12$926.40

Mg-1R monthly water-use tiers

Monthly usage blockRate per 1,000 gallons
First 3,000 gallons$5.70
Next 3,000 gallons$7.71
Next 3,000 gallons$9.47
Next 5,000 gallons$13.74
Over 14,000 gallons$17.67

Official water tariff, PDF page 3

Service-line materials

Service-line materials and local lead questions

A service-line inventory describes pipe materials; it is not a water test. Check both the street-side and property-side information for your address, and ask the utility to confirm records that are missing or inconsistent. Building plumbing and fixtures are separate from the service line.

Madison’s inventory webpage says there were no known lead service lines as of November 4, 2025. It explains that its records draw on permits, main taps, meters, maintenance, repairs, and replacements, and that historical records can be inaccurate. The city-linked data checked September 17, 2026 still includes two property-side records coded “CONFIRMED LEAD” and five coded “CONFIRMED GALVANIZED”. Those records have not been reconciled with the dated webpage statement; they are not proof of a particular active connection.

Page 4 of the 2025 annual report separately states that no known lead lines were connected to the Madison system as of December 31, 2025, while warning that historical inventory records can contain inaccuracies and previously unknown lines may be discovered. This later dated statement also remains unreconciled with the two property-side lead-coded records. The report describes a possible rebate covering half the replacement cost, up to $3,000; confirm current eligibility and terms with the utility.2025 report inventory statement and rebate terms

Start with the official service-line inventory and utility’s inventory explanation. For a correction or replacement-program question, call 608-266-4651 or email [email protected]. The utility page says a property with a discovered lead water service may be eligible for a rebate up to $3,000; confirm eligibility before arranging work. Local laboratory and sample-collection guidance addresses questions about water at your tap.

Compare every material category, street/property counts, and record limitations →

Lead-in-water testing for licensed childcare and Head Start facilities

Wisconsin DHS offers a voluntary Lead-in-Water Testing and Remediation Initiative for licensed childcare centers and Head Start programs. It works with local public health departments to provide free testing and eligible fixture remediation. This program guidance does not show that a specific Madison facility participated, identify its water provider, or supply that facility’s test results.

  1. Ask about enrollment. Use the DHS-linked interest survey or contact [email protected]. The DHS Dane County directory identifies Public Health Madison & Dane County as the local health department. Ask about current participation arrangements. Renting does not by itself exclude a facility, but the operator is responsible for obtaining landlord approval for sampling or plumbing work.
  2. Plan testing with the sampling team. Inform staff and families, identify water outlets, and develop a facility-specific plan. DHS describes testing the water after it has contacted the building’s plumbing. An annual utility report or earlier source-water test does not replace these outlet-specific samples. The team supplies initial results and arranges follow-up where the program calls for it.
  3. Follow the facility-specific results and instructions. DHS describes restricting affected outlets from drinking or cooking, signage, follow-up sampling, and eligible fixture replacement or filtration. Work with the program coordinator before remediation. Replacement fixtures receive confirmatory sampling under the program; filtered fixtures follow different program procedures.

The DHS page lists a 10 ppb program response trigger. This is the initiative’s trigger for its fixture-testing and remediation process, not a measured Madison result or a determination of utility-wide compliance. Follow the sampling team’s instructions for an actual result; the program includes different initial, follow-up, and final sampling steps.

DHS also offers free environmental-health training worth 0.3 CEUs to staff at current or past participating centers. Contact the program for access. The source reviewed here does not establish eligibility for every K–12 school or public building, and no locally bound facility result set has been verified for this page.

DHS program, eligibility, testing and remediation guidance

DHS page revised July 29, 2026; reviewed September 17, 2026.

Customer support

Help with your bill and testing your own tap

Check the provider on your bill before using Madison Water Utility’s customer services. For a question about water inside your home, a laboratory can help you choose a test and collect a sample correctly.

MadCAP: eligibility, income limits, and how to apply

Madison’s Customer Assistance Program offers eligible households a monthly credit of up to $30 on their Municipal Services Bill. The credit is spread across municipal services; it is not a water-only discount. Enrollment is not automatic, and qualifying households must reapply every year. The credit does not need to be repaid.

The Municipal Services bill must be in your name. Total annual gross income for everyone in the household, before taxes and other deductions, must be at or below the listed limit.

MadCAP annual household income limits, reviewed September 17, 2026
Household sizeAnnual gross income limit
1$45,450
2$51,950
3$58,450
4$64,900
5$70,100
6$75,300
7$80,500
8 or more$85,700

The city describes these limits as 50% of area median income. Qualifying for FoodShare, Section 8, SNAP, or WIC meets the program’s income requirements; you still need to apply.

  1. Gather income verification: a current tax return, Social Security benefits statement, or a document showing qualification for FoodShare, Section 8 vouchers, or WIC.
  2. Apply online or complete a paper application and include the verification document. Paper applications are available in English, Spanish, Hmong, and Chinese.
  3. Send a paper application to [email protected] or Madison Municipal Services, 119 E Olin Avenue, Madison, WI 53713.

The city says it sends confirmation within 7–14 days after receiving an application, including approval status and the credit amount if approved. If no email address was provided, it sends confirmation by mail to the address on file.

Check current MadCAP eligibility and application instructions
Arrange a water test: local laboratory, prices, and sample delivery

Public Health Madison & Dane County says it has discontinued its water-testing service. It still offers help choosing tests and interpreting results at 608-243-0357 or [email protected]. Its guidance explains that municipal customers may have plumbing-related questions about lead, copper, manganese, or bacteria. A single result does not describe every tap or every time.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene offers kits at 2601 Agriculture Drive, Madison. Call 608-224-6202 in Dane County or 800-442-4618 to order. Kits can be shipped to you without a shipping charge, but you pay return shipping. Do not send payment with a sample; the lab bills after testing.

  1. Contact the laboratory before collecting water to choose the appropriate test and obtain its approved bottles and instructions. Collection requirements differ by test.
  2. Follow the kit instructions and complete the request forms. The laboratory may reject a sample collected incorrectly or in an unapproved bottle.
  3. Drop samples at the laboratory’s customer-service desk Monday–Friday, 7:45 a.m.–4:30 p.m., or arrange shipment within the test’s holding time. Do not ship on Friday for Saturday delivery: the laboratory warns that samples may not be processed in time.
Laboratory water-test price list, effective July 1, 2026

This is the laboratory’s complete “Water Tests” category, including packages, rush options, and tests for uses such as swimming beaches. It is not a recommendation to order every test. Prices may change without notice; “usual testing time” is in business days.

Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene: water tests

Homeowner Package -includes: Total Coliform, E. coli, Nitrate, Nitrate+Nitrite, Nitrite, Fluoride, Metals Screen, Hardness, VOCs Screen, and Atrazine Screen (5 bottle kit)
Usual testing time: 21 business days
Price per test: $450.00
† HUD/FHA-VA Loan Package -includes: Total Coliform, E. coli, Lead, Nitrate, Nitrite+Nitrate, Nitrite (3 bottle kit)
Usual testing time: 7 business days
Price per test: $146.00
† HUD/FHA-VA Loan Package RUSH (3 bottle kit)
Usual testing time: 2 business days
Price per test: $292.00
Bacteria (Total Coliform/E. coli) – Presence/Absence
Usual testing time: 2 business days
Price per test: $35.00
E. Coli Bacteria in swimming beaches
Usual testing time: 2 business days
Price per test: $50.00
Heterotrophic plate count
Usual testing time: 3 business days
Price per test: $44.00
Iron Bacteria
Usual testing time: 7 business days
Price per test: $72.00
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Usual testing time: 2 business days
Price per test: $56.00
Arsenic
Usual testing time: 10 business days
Price per test: $38.00
Arsenic RUSH
Usual testing time: 2 business days
Price per test: $76.00
Arsenic Speciation (if high total Arsenic) includes: Arsenic (total), Arsenic (dissolved), Arsenic III and Arsenic V
Usual testing time: 10 business days
Price per test: $150.00
Atrazine Screen
Usual testing time: 21 business days
Price per test: $71.00
Copper
Usual testing time: 10 business days
Price per test: $38.00
Copper RUSH
Usual testing time: 2 business days
Price per test: $76.00
Fluoride
Usual testing time: 3 business days
Price per test: $33.00
Hardness, includes: Calcium, Magnesium and Hardness Calc.
Usual testing time: 10 business days
Price per test: $46.00
Hardness RUSH
Usual testing time: 2 business days
Price per test: $92.00
Iron
Usual testing time: 10 business days
Price per test: $38.00
Iron RUSH
Usual testing time: 2 business days
Price per test: $76.00
Lead
Usual testing time: 10 business days
Price per test: $38.00
Lead RUSH
Usual testing time: 2 business days
Price per test: $76.00
Manganese
Usual testing time: 10 business days
Price per test: $38.00
Manganese RUSH
Usual testing time: 2 business days
Price per test: $76.00
Metals Screen-includes: Aluminum, Arsenic, Cadmium, Calcium, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Iron, Lead, Magnesium, Manganese, Nickel, Strontium, Vanadium, Zinc and Hardness – NO SUBSTITUTIONS
Usual testing time: 10 business days
Price per test: $97.00
Metals Screen RUSH
Usual testing time: 2 business days
Price per test: $194.00
Nitrate
Usual testing time: 3 business days
Price per test: $35.00
Nitrate RUSH
Usual testing time: 1 business days
Price per test: $70.00
Nitrite – MUST BE RECEIVED ON ICE
Usual testing time: 3 business days
Price per test: $38.00
Nitrite RUSH – MUST BE RECEIVED ON ICE
Usual testing time: 1 business days
Price per test: $76.00
*Radon in water (Radon in water tests are generally not necessary unless air radon levels are high)
Usual testing time: 5 business days
Price per test: $111.00
Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs) Screen
Usual testing time: 21 business days
Price per test: $141.00

† The laboratory’s HUD/FHA–VA note concerns private-well testing for mortgage requirements. Check requirements with the mortgage company; these packages do not establish utility-wide conditions. The laboratory’s radon entry also retains its qualification about elevated air-radon levels.

Check current laboratory prices, test information, and collection instructions

For households on a private well, Public Health describes a separate state testing-access program for qualifying households with financial need and a pregnant person, child under 12, or person with a weakened immune system. Call 608-242-6515 to ask about eligibility. This is not a general free-testing offer for Madison utility customers.

Read Public Health’s testing guidance and other laboratory options

Customer guidance reviewed September 17, 2026. Confirm application limits, prices, and collection arrangements with the responsible agency or laboratory.

Annual Reports

What Madison’s annual report tells you

The utility’s report issued in May 2026 covers 2025, but some rows use earlier sampling years. Use the system profile to check each result’s period, unit, and source-printed benchmark.

11302247

MADISON WATER UTILITY

2025 report: The report lists well and distribution results alongside 2023 lead-and-copper sampling. Its 2025 fluoride table median and system-wide narrative average are different statistics; neither describes a particular tap.

Source type shown in available records: Utility report

Check every 2025 result and its sampling year

Sources and utility roles

Groundwater beneath Madison

Madison Water Utility draws groundwater from the deep sandstone aquifer. Its 2025 annual report describes 21 active wells and more than 920 miles of interconnected pipes for that reporting period. Those figures describe the utility’s network, not the well or provider serving every Madison address.

Look up the utility’s well information for your address, and confirm the provider on your water bill. A mapped well area does not guarantee that one well always supplies a tap; the interconnected network can use different sources.

The state source register includes active, inactive, temporarily out-of-service and permanently abandoned records. These categories have different meanings and dates; adding them together would not give a current operating-well count.

Read all 30 state source records and their dated limits →

Water transfers

Other systems named in Madison’s water-export records

DNR lists Madison Water Utility (PWSID 11302247) as the source system in 12 export records naming five receiving systems. The receiving systems’ own import listings corroborate those rows. This does not establish that Madison directly bills or exclusively serves every customer in those places.

If your bill names one of these providers, use that provider’s notices, contacts and annual report as well. A wholesale-water relationship does not make the two public water systems interchangeable.

Read the individual transfer records, dates and limitations →
Source: DNR Madison export listing and the linked receiver import listings, checked . The transfer direction shown here is Madison → named receiver.

Source protection

Wellhead protection and groundwater recharge

Water pumped from a well draws groundwater toward it through the aquifer. Madison’s wellhead-protection program uses groundwater models and local hydrogeologic information to identify 5-, 50- and 100-year capture zones. Those zones guide land-use restrictions, investigation of potential contamination sources and monitoring.

Capture zones describe groundwater reaching a well over time. They are not water-provider service boundaries or a map of which homes receive that well’s water today. The utility also describes monitoring wells between known or suspected contamination sources and supply wells to help detect movement before it reaches the supply.

The utility publishes maps for 22 listed wells and offers the underlying wellhead-protection plans through its Water Quality Section. The page’s well counts and seasonal labels are undated; they should not override newer operating information.

Browse all listed well maps and the plan-request instructions →

Provider and map context

Madison’s mapped residential inventory footprint

Confirm your provider on your water bill or with the utility. City limits and a shaded map are not proof that a particular property is connected.

EPA’s record for WI1130224 identifies Madison Water Utility and links to the utility’s lead-service-line inventory. It labels the polygon “Residential Area” and records the method as “Buffered lead service line inventory by 150 meters.” The buffer extends beyond inventory locations; this is not an exact boundary of connected properties or a complete current service-area determination.

Mapped feature
Lead Service Line Inventory
Reported polygon area
215.82 km² (including the buffer)
Original creation date
Not recorded
Verification and confirmation fields
Blank in the source
State and federal identifiers
Wisconsin: 11302247 · EPA: WI1130224
Snapshot reviewed
September 17, 2026; this is not the polygon’s creation date.

Interactive boundary map

Explore the mapped residential inventory footprint

Pan and zoom

The teal shape is an inventory-derived residential footprint with a 150-metre buffer. Pan or zoom for geographic context. Neither a point inside the shape nor one outside it establishes service, pipe material, or water quality at an address.

Loading the reviewed boundary…

Boundary source: EPA Water System Boundaries; source-record date not recorded; 215.82 km² including the buffer. This preview uses a preserved snapshot, not live coverage. Base-map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Open the official EPA map.

Madison’s Water Quality at My Address toollinks an address to estimated well contributions based on 2017 operating simulations. Those estimates can change with operations and do not identify which well is supplying a tap today. If the address is missing or the provider is uncertain, call the Water Quality Section at 608-266-4654.

EPA boundary map and methodology ·Utility inventory linked by EPA ·Reviewed GeoJSON snapshot. The source does not establish a currently confirmed, complete provider boundary.

Treatment records

How treatment differs by source and time

Do all Madison wells use the same treatment? Wisconsin DNR lists 89 process records across 30 entry-point sources, including historical and abandoned sources. Fluoridation and disinfection appear alongside well-specific iron removal, granular activated carbon, aeration, and pH adjustment. Check the well number and process dates before applying an entry to a question about your address.

The state lists pressure-sand filtration for iron removal at sources 7, 19, 29 and 31. At source 15 it records pH adjustment for corrosion control from July 23, 2014 to March 5, 2019, and granular activated carbon for organics removal beginning July 28, 2025. Those entries describe the named source and period; they do not establish treatment at every well or conditions at a household tap.

Use the full source history to distinguish older facilities and ended processes from records with no end date. For current well operations or a water-quality concern, confirm with the utility.

Read every recorded treatment process, purpose and date →

Facilities and operations

Wells, pumping stations and storage

Madison’s master plan distinguishes three functions: wells bring groundwater to the surface, booster stations move water through or between pressure zones, and reservoirs store water. A “unit well” combines a well, storage and booster pumping; those components work together. Independent wells 9, 20 and 26 are described separately because they deliver water directly to distribution storage.

The May 2020 plan is a historical inventory. Its opening summary lists 22 active supply wells, 10 interzone pumping stations, 12 distribution-storage facilities and more than 900 miles of piping. The utility’s undated About page, checked September 17, 2026, describes 33 reservoirs with over 43 million gallons of storage. These descriptions use different dates and facility groupings and should not be added together or presented as one reconciled current inventory.

Pressure zones and storage facilities help explain why a city-wide source description does not identify the water reaching a particular address. The detailed profile preserves the plan’s named facilities, capacities, connections and limitations.

Read all five facility tables and historical operating context →

July operating reports and August 2026 capital updates

The August 25 board records add dated operating and project detail between annual reports. The July reporting period, August status dates and future milestones are kept separate. They do not describe live service at a particular address.

  • The July report lists 21 wells across three operating regions. Regional production and utilization do not tell you which well serves your home.
  • The August 15 offline-well record lists Well 20 tank repainting, with an October 2026 expected return. That forecast does not confirm a return to service.
  • The August capital report describes Well 12 reconstruction as pre-construction and Reservoir 20 recoating as construction. Its budgets and planned milestones are dated project records.
  • July maintenance totals include 14 main-leak repairs, five service-leak repairs and 100 miles of unidirectional flushing. These utility-wide counts do not establish work at your address; check official project and flushing updates for your street.
Full well, maintenance, spending and project records →

Official board attachments reviewed September 17, 2026. The retained records include three memos and five attachments, 24 pages in total.

PFAS history

Well testing, sample dates, and laboratory results

Which well had a PFAS result, and when? Madison’s seven separate monitoring reports cover 2020–2025, including spring and fall 2023 reports. Find the well, sample date, laboratory, and method together. The 236 printed sample columns include repeat samples and laboratory comparisons, so they are not 236 different wells or households.

All results use ng/L, also called parts per trillion (ppt). A result beginning with < is below the stated detection limit; it is not zero. “ND” means none detected and “n/a” means not analyzed where those definitions appear in the report. Different methods and detection limits can change what appears in a comparison between years.

These are historical well-monitoring results, not a test of a particular household tap. Printed limits, proposed limits, health advisories, and health-based values retain their original report context; they do not establish today’s regulatory requirements or compliance.

The detailed record includes nondetects and all other table cells, not just detected PFAS. It also preserves UCMR5 method labels, results qualified as estimates, laboratory-blank notes, and the report’s own combined totals. Use the sample date and well label when comparing entries. These monitoring reports are separate from the annual drinking-water reports.

Browse complete PFAS results by report and well →

Lead and copper

Tap-sampling results and monitoring history

Madison Water Utility’s published monitoring summaries cover 2011, 2014, 2017, 2020, and 2023. These results describe water collected at sampled locations and dates. They do not establish the result at another home or today’s conditions at a previously sampled location.

The utility’s published 90th-percentile summaries

The utility defines the 90th percentile as the level below which 90% of sample results fall; ppb means parts per billion. A percentile is not the average result or a result that applies to every household. Both columns below use ppb.

2023
Lead: 1.8 ppb · Copper: 150 ppb
2020
Lead: 3.2 ppb · Copper: 168 ppb
2017
Lead: 3.2 ppb · Copper: 169 ppb
2014
Lead: 3.5 ppb · Copper: 185 ppb
2011 (summary)
Lead: 3.0 ppb · Copper: 172 ppb
Read the utility’s lead and copper monitoring summary

The detailed system record preserves all 406 rows in the five linked monitoring reports, including repeated visits, below-detection results, and the 2011 report’s additional dissolved-lead, manganese, and iron columns. Its location labels are the utility’s street-and-block labels; they are not an address-level prediction.

For a question about your own plumbing, the utility recommends contacting a certified drinking-water laboratory for sampling instructions. One test may not represent the lead level at other times. Ask the utility’s Water Quality Section at 608-266-4654 for help choosing the appropriate next step.

Browse every published monitoring row and its sampling date →
Official utility reports and state records reviewed. Historical measurements and summary statistics do not replace current utility guidance or a properly collected test at your own tap.

Wisconsin DNR sample records

Lead, copper, and water-quality parameters by sample

Want to know when or where a lead or copper sample was collected, beyond the annual report’s summary? Wisconsin DNR lists 643 sample records for Madison Water Utility (11302247), with 2,880 individual results dated 1992–2026. Use the sample date, location, and group together; this public snapshot may omit tests and cannot describe your tap today.

  • 452 lead/copper samples contain 902 result rows. Two 2006 samples list lead without a copper result; missing copper is not a nondetect.
  • 191 water-quality-parameter samples contain 1,978 results, including hardness, alkalinity, pH, and metals. They are a separate state sample group, not 191 missing lead/copper tests.

Sample dates, locations, and purposes matter. “Distribution System” and “Entry Point” are the state’s sample-source labels. An entry-point result does not describe every tap. The 2026 records do not establish that the monitoring period is complete, and historical results do not establish current household conditions.

For a concern about plumbing inside your home, use the local testing instructions. The utility’s published percentile summaries describe groups of samples; they are not the result at an individual address.

Browse all state sample dates, laboratory results, and qualifiers →

Official detail pages retrieved and reviewed September 17, 2026. Open Madison’s Wisconsin DNR system record.

Water characteristics

Hardness: utility guidance and dated sample results

The utility’s FAQ describes Madison water as “very hard,” with 18–20 grains of hardness per gallon. That statement does not specify a sampling period or calcium-carbonate basis. It is a utility description, not a measurement at your address.

Read the utility’s hardness and household-water FAQ

The reviewed state history separately contains 138 hardness results from 2017, 2020, and 2023: 75 labeled Distribution System and 63 labeled Entry Point. The source names the parameter “HARDNESS, TOTAL (CAC03).” It reports 91 results in MG/L and 47 in UG/L. Those literal units are retained; the values have not been combined into an average, converted to grains per gallon, or used to assign a new hardness category.

Latest reviewed sample date: 8/14/2023

Entry Point · Source 17 · Site UW17
340 MG/L · Original DNR sample 5442590
Entry Point · Source 12 · Site UW12
300 MG/L · Original DNR sample 5442589
Entry Point · Source 14 · Site UW14
520 MG/L · Original DNR sample 5442588

These three results share the latest sample date in the reviewed hardness snapshot. They describe different entry points, not a citywide range or an estimate for every home. Find this system and its hardness history by name or PWSID.

For a softener setting or a household-specific question, confirm your provider and ask the utility or a laboratory about the appropriate measurement. The state sample history can show where and when a value was collected; it cannot establish today’s value in your home.

Browse all 138 dated hardness results and their original sample records →

Hardness history reviewed September 17, 2026. These sample results and the undated FAQ statement are different evidence; neither is a current household-water determination.

EPA historical monitoring

Additional contaminants tested in Madison water, 2002–2024

Looking for testing beyond Madison’s annual report? EPA’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) records substances considered for future regulation. Madison’s five cycles shown here span 2002–2024 and contain 4,811 occurrence results plus 28 separate source-water indicators. Open a cycle for its substance, well, and date. These are results, not counts of homes or proof of today’s regulatory status.

Look up Madison Water Utility as WI1130224 in EPA records. Wisconsin DNR uses 11302247. Both identify this utility; these records do not establish who serves a particular address.

The newest reviewed cycle contains 1,200 results from 20 well facilities sampled in 2023–2024 for 29 PFAS and lithium. Older cycles cover 2002–2005, 2008–2009, 2015 and 2018–2019. They add historical measurements beyond the latest annual report, but are not a current measurement at your tap.

Start with the provider on your water bill, then use the utility’swater-quality-at-my-address toolto explore its well information. Its estimates use 2017 operating simulations; a well in this archive is not proof that it supplies your home today. For a household testing question, see the utility laboratory’s sampling guidance.

Browse all five EPA cycles, sample details and supplementary records →

EPA data retrieved September 17, 2026. Official UCMR datasets and cycle-specific definitions. This is the history in the reviewed releases, not every test ever collected by the utility or a live assessment of tap-water conditions.

Inspections

Sanitary surveys and inspection history

What did Wisconsin DNR flag during Madison Water Utility inspections? A sanitary survey checks facilities and operations. DNR lists 10 sanitary-survey visits, 13 annual inspections, and 33 findings. Open a dated finding for its due date and recorded action; a blank completion field does not tell you whether work occurred.

What the April 20, 2026 survey records say

The six findings concern well-house meter testing, emergency-well abandonment agreements, cross-connection control, reservoir overflow screens, well vent screens, and storage inspections. The recorded due dates run from June 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027.

Completion dates and actions-taken fields are blank for these six entries in the September 17 snapshot. A blank field does not prove work remains uncorrected. Ask the utility or DNR for the current disposition; these findings are not a live water advisory.

Read every available survey finding and the inspection chronology →

Regulatory history

Historical violations and compliance actions

Wisconsin DNR’s reviewed listing contains 18 records beginning in 1993–2024. They concern monitoring, reporting, lead-service-line replacement, corrosion-control treatment, and public-notice requirements. A monitoring or reporting entry is not itself a measured contaminant exceedance.

The two records beginning in 2024 concern the lead-service-line inventory and its public notice. Their detail pages list return-to-compliance actions dated December 13, 2024 and October 1, 2025, respectively. Those actions apply to those records; they do not establish present system-wide compliance.

A separate public-notice record beginning March 12, 2004 remains labeled ACTIVE in this snapshot. Its action list includes an EPA referral request in 2016 and DNR declining that request in 2017. The underlying replacement entry is labeled COMPLETE. These are distinct records, not a current advisory or a finding about water at a home.

Federal records and the 2025 EPA order

EPA’s case report for Madison Water Utility lists an administrative compliance order issued September 9, 2025 and case closure October 6, 2025. Its outcome is “Final Order No Penalty.” The case summary concerns Lead and Copper Rule Revisions and associated public-notification requirements; it does not provide Madison’s specific order terms.

These records use different scopes and dates. The federal drinking-water extract dated July 9, 2026 labels public-notice record 2500192 “Unaddressed,” with no resolved date. Wisconsin’s inventory-notice record lists a return-to-compliance action on October 1, 2025. EPA case closure does not resolve that difference or establish present system-wide compliance.

Compare the federal case and state record dates · EPA case report

Read all 18 state records, linked actions, and notice requirements →

What To Check Next

Next steps for Madison water information

Use these links to move from local context to system, report, source, and limitation context.

Open MADISON WATER UTILITY

Start with PWSID 11302247, report context, source links, and limitations for the linked system profile.

View Open MADISON WATER UTILITY

How to look up your drinking water system

Start with a utility bill, PWSID, state lookup tool, or official report so you can find the public water system behind a city or provider name.

View How to look up your drinking water system

How to read a water quality report

A plain-English walkthrough of Consumer Confidence Reports, including report years, detected contaminants, legal limits, violations, and source notes.

View How to read a water quality report

Check methodology

Understand why city pages are navigation layers and why address-level confirmation matters.

View Check methodology

Evidence

Official sources and methodology

Location context

County or borough is not listed in the current city relationship record. Use the linked system PWSID and official source instead of inferring a service area from a city boundary.

Evidence

Sources to confirm next

Use official federal, state, utility, or report sources before treating a page as final.