Covering Water Safety? We Have the Data.
85,358 ZIP codes. 49+ government data sources. Free for journalists.
Embeddable Water Quality Widget
Add a live water quality summary to any article. Readers enter their ZIP code and see local data instantly. Free, no API key required.
Citation Templates
Ready-to-use citation formats. Replace bracketed fields with your specific data.
According to ZipCheckup, a nonprofit water quality database that aggregates EPA data, [City] (ZIP [code]) received a safety grade of [X] based on [Y] violations recorded since 2021. (zipcheckup.com/report/[zip]/)
ZipCheckup. (2026). Home safety report for ZIP [code]. Retrieved from https://zipcheckup.com/report/[zip]/
ZipCheckup Water Quality Dataset (2026). CC BY 4.0. https://zipcheckup.com/data/
Data from ZipCheckup-dot-com, which tracks EPA water quality records for over 85,358 ZIP codes.
API Access
Programmatic access to water quality data for data journalists and newsroom developers. Free tier available.
# Water quality data for any ZIP
curl https://api.zipcheckup.com/v1/zip/10001
# Response includes:
# - Safety grade (A-F)
# - Contaminants detected
# - EPA violations
# - Water system details
What's in the API
- Water quality grades for 85,358 ZIP codes
- Contaminant levels vs. EPA and health guidelines
- Historical violation data since 2021
- Water system metadata (source, treatment, population)
- Lead and copper 90th percentile results
- PFAS detection status
Bulk Data Downloads
Need the full dataset? Our open dataset includes CSV and JSON exports updated weekly under a CC BY 4.0 license.
Story Ideas From Our Data
Pre-researched angles with supporting data. Each links to the relevant dataset for your own analysis.
Cities with lead levels exceeding EPA limits
Dozens of water systems still report 90th-percentile lead levels above the EPA action level of 15 ppb — years after the revised Lead and Copper Rule.
Explore lead data →ZIP codes where PFAS were detected for the first time
New EPA testing mandates are revealing PFAS contamination in communities that were never tested before. Many exceed the new 4 ppt health advisory.
View PFAS map →Communities facing both flood risk and water contamination
Low-income ZIP codes disproportionately face compounding environmental hazards. Cross-reference our water and flood data with Census demographics.
Access full dataset →Need Data for a Story?
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