Canton, Michigan’s Home for
Water Softeners, Water Filters,
& Water Delivery

Yes. The most recent water quality report says Canton met all monitoring and reporting requirements and lists no violations. It also notes four significant deficiencies at GLWA’s Southwest and Springwells plants that Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is tracking; the report lists each as on track or completed.

Moderately hard. GLWA’s regional supply averages about 106 ppm, roughly 6.2 grains per gallon; Canton’s report doesn’t publish its own hardness number or a mineral analysis. At that level, many households notice water spots on dishes, soap scum in showers and slow scale buildup in water heaters. An in-home test gives you a reading for your own tap.

No. Canton’s inventory of 26,835 service-line locations found all service lines to be non-lead. Much of Canton’s housing is newer than in the older cities closer to Detroit, which helps explain the result.

In the most recent round of home sampling, the 90th percentile lead result was non-detect, individual results ranged from non-detect to 1.2 ppb, and no homes were above Michigan’s 12 ppb action level. Copper’s 90th percentile was 41.3 ppb (0.0413 ppm), with results from 1.1 to 131.4 ppb and no homes above the 1,300 ppb action level.

Disinfection byproducts form when chlorine reacts with natural organic matter in the water. The highest HAA5 level listed in Canton’s most recent report was 54 ppb, with results ranging from 14 to 54 ppb. That is below the 60 ppb limit, but close to it. The highest total trihalomethane level listed was 60 ppb, with a range of 19 to 60 ppb, against an 80 ppb limit. Homeowners who want to lower these byproducts at home can use reverse osmosis or whole-house filtration.

Canton Township buys treated Detroit River water from the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA). The water enters GLWA’s system at the Belle Isle intake and is treated at plants including Springwells and Southwest, then travels west to Canton, where the township distributes it to neighborhoods on both sides of the Ford Road corridor.

GLWA filters and disinfects the water with chlorine before it reaches Canton. Total chlorine had a running annual average of 0.88 ppm, with results from 0.78 to 0.95 ppm, under the 4 ppm limit. Turbidity, a measure of how well filtration is working, peaked at 0.21 NTU, and every sample was below 0.3 NTU.

The most recent water quality report lists PFOA, one of the most widely studied PFAS compounds, at up to 2 parts per trillion, below both Michigan’s 8 ppt limit and the 4 ppt federal limit. No other PFAS compounds are listed in the report. A certified reverse osmosis system can reduce PFAS at the kitchen tap.

Yes. Fluoride is added during treatment and measured 0.50 ppm, well below the 4 ppm limit. Nitrate measured 0.35 ppm against a 10 ppm limit, and sodium measured 6.8 ppm.

With no lead service lines in the township, Canton homeowners usually focus on taste, chlorine and disinfection byproducts. Reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink reduces byproducts and PFAS in drinking water, and whole-house filtration cuts chlorine taste and odor at every tap. With regional GLWA water averaging about 106 ppm (6.2 gpg), a water softener helps protect newer appliances and fixtures from scale. A free in-home water test shows what your home needs.

You can access the most recent Canton Water Quality Report from Canton Township here.