Chloride in Washington well water
In Washington, chloride was detected in 98% of 23,174 tested private well samples.
Chloride mainly comes from road salt and water softener discharge. Above 250 mg/L water tastes salty and corrodes plumbing. Rising chloride in a well usually means road salt is reaching the aquifer.
Check your chloride number
Type the value from your lab report. It is compared to the EPA limit, the same way the full interpretation does it.
Test your Washington well for chloride
Certified lab analysis of your own tap water, bottles and prepaid return shipping included. The Essential well panel covers arsenic, uranium, nitrate, lead, copper, manganese, iron, sodium and bacteria; radon and PFAS are add-ons.
Order the Tap Score well water test kit, from $209Already tested? Upload the report
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Systems that remove chloride
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Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one, the merchant pays us a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change which products we list or what the data says.
For chloride
Under-sink reverse osmosis system
under-sink or countertop, about $300
Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.
Rather have it installed and sized for your well? Book a free in-home water test with a licensed local company.
Where to get a well tested for chloride in Washington: certified labs, state programs and prices.
By county, from individual samples
Public monitoring samples against the EPA limit; counties with at least 30 samples.
| County | Above EPA limit | Samples | Detected | Median | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | no limit | 298 | 100% | 11 | 218 mg/L |
| Kittitas | no limit | 97 | 100% | 3.67 | 127 mg/L |
| Benton | no limit | 494 | 100% | 12 | 170 mg/L |
| Clark | no limit | 154 | 100% | 3.4 | 110 mg/L |
| Cowlitz | no limit | 93 | 100% | 5.1 | 83 mg/L |
| Chelan | no limit | 33 | 100% | 2.1 | 13 mg/L |
| Clallam | no limit | 320 | 100% | 5.3 | 3,320 mg/L |
| Franklin | no limit | 486 | 100% | 22 | 330 mg/L |
| Grant | no limit | 776 | 100% | 12 | 900 mg/L |
| Grays Harbor | no limit | 418 | 100% | 20 | 305 mg/L |
| Island | no limit | 2,345 | 100% | 34.1 | 14,000 mg/L |
| Jefferson | no limit | 178 | 100% | 15.5 | 3,400 mg/L |
| Douglas | no limit | 60 | 100% | 5.35 | 100 mg/L |
| Kitsap | no limit | 2,054 | 100% | 4.8 | 13,300 mg/L |
| Klickitat | no limit | 163 | 100% | 5.4 | 34 mg/L |
- Ocean Shores CCD, Grays Harbor County100% detected of 199
- Fort Lewis-DuPont CCD, Pierce County100% detected of 365
- Gig Harbor Peninsula CCD, Pierce County100% detected of 244
- Puyallup CCD, Pierce County100% detected of 54
- Tacoma CCD, Pierce County100% detected of 284
- Graham-Thrift CCD, Pierce County100% detected of 34
- Olympia East CCD, Thurston County100% detected of 126
- Key Peninsula-Anderson Island CCD, Pierce County100% detected of 172
- Thurston South CCD, Thurston County100% detected of 112
- Hanford Site CCD, Benton County100% detected of 255
- Northwest Benton CCD, Benton County100% detected of 33
- Richland-Kennewick CCD, Benton County100% detected of 169
- South Benton CCD, Benton County100% detected of 30
- Waterville CCD, Douglas County100% detected of 30
- Anacortes CCD, Skagit County100% detected of 247
- Swinomish Reservation CCD, Skagit County100% detected of 109
- Lopez CCD, San Juan County100% detected of 1,050
- Orcas CCD, San Juan County100% detected of 326
- San Juan Island CCD, San Juan County100% detected of 381
- Westport CCD, Grays Harbor County100% detected of 164
Sources
- Individual samples from the USGS Water Quality Portal and state monitoring, summarized per geography. chloride counts and shares are listed on each county and town page with their sources.