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

Yes. The city’s most recent water quality report lists roughly 6,900 known lead service lines out of about 32,700 total, and 1,766 lead lines have been replaced since 2019. More recent minutes from Dearborn’s Water Advisory Board put the number still in the ground at about 7,000, and lines of unknown material are being treated as lead. The city plans to replace all of its lead service lines within 20 years.

Dearborn’s 90th percentile lead result in the most recent water quality report was 13 ppb. That is above Michigan’s current lead action level of 12 ppb. The report itself printed the older 15 ppb action level, which the result was below. An action level is a trigger for additional steps by the water system, not a violation, and the report lists no lead violation. Individual results ranged from 0 to 147.8 ppb, and 4 sampled homes were above 15 ppb. Because results vary so much from home to home, testing your own tap is the most reliable way to know your exposure.

The most recent water quality report lists no contaminant limit or action level violations. It does list one monitoring violation at GLWA’s Springwells plant, where individual filter turbidity was not monitored for 5 hours during a power interruption; the report says the issue was resolved. It also notes significant deficiencies at the Southwest and Springwells plants involving rapid mix, coagulant feed and flocculation equipment, which are being addressed on deadlines set by Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). Homes with a lead service line or older plumbing should pay particular attention to lead, as described above.

Moderately hard. Tap samples averaged 102 ppm from the Southwest plant (range 90 to 114 ppm) and 101 ppm from Springwells (range 88 to 110 ppm), about 5.9 grains per gallon. Calcium averaged 27.2 ppm and magnesium 7.8 ppm. That’s enough to leave spots on dishes and gradually build scale in water heaters and fixtures.

Dearborn buys treated Detroit River water from the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), served by its Springwells and Southwest treatment plants. The city then distributes that water to homes and businesses from east to west Dearborn, an area that includes Ford Motor Company’s world headquarters, The Henry Ford museum and the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

GLWA filters the water, disinfects it with chlorine and adds orthophosphate to help limit corrosion of lead and copper in pipes. Chlorine stays in the water to your tap, with a highest running average of 0.74 ppm in water from Springwells, well under the 4 ppm limit. For disinfection byproducts, the report lists a highest running average of 72 ppb for total trihalomethanes, under the 80 ppb limit, and 25 ppb for HAA5, under the 60 ppb limit.

The 90th percentile copper result was 0.3352 ppm, below the 1.3 ppm action level. Individual results ranged up to 1.6403 ppm, and 1 sampled home was above the action level. Copper typically comes from a home’s own plumbing, so results can differ from one house to the next.

Federal unregulated contaminant (UCMR 5) testing reported in the most recent water quality report found all PFAS compounds, including PFOA and PFOS, below reporting limits at both plants serving Dearborn. Michigan’s limits are 8 ppt for PFOA and 16 ppt for PFOS, and the federal limit for each is 4 ppt.

Yes. Fluoride is added during treatment. The most recent report shows 0.66 ppm in water from the Southwest plant and 0.49 ppm from Springwells, both well below the 4 ppm limit. Sodium measured 5.2 ppm.

Many Dearborn neighborhoods were built out in the first half of the 20th century, and older homes are the most likely to have a lead service line or older plumbing. If that describes your home, a reverse osmosis system certified for lead reduction gives you filtered drinking and cooking water at the kitchen sink while line replacement continues. With water around 101 to 102 ppm (5.9 gpg), a water softener helps slow scale in pipes and appliances, and whole-house filtration reduces chlorine taste and odor. A free in-home water test is the easiest place to start.

You can access the most recent Dearborn Water Quality Report from the City of Dearborn here.