Local water
Chester County, PA Water: What the Public Reports Show
See what Chester County water reports say about streams, chloride, drinking water providers, private wells, and water main work.
Chester County tracks rivers, streams, groundwater, and water use. These reports help show how local water resources are changing. They do not all measure the same thing. A stream report is not the same as a report on the water coming from your kitchen tap.
What is changing in Chester County water?
The Chester County Water Resources Authority posts yearly water updates. The latest page includes 2025 and 2024 information about water resources and watersheds. The county also says its long-term reports look at things such as rain, groundwater, stream flow, and water quality. See Chester County’s water reports (opens in a new tab).
One local trend is road salt. The county has tracked chloride at stream sites since the 1970s. It reports that chloride levels have risen over time across the county’s watersheds. Chloride is part of salt. It can move into streams when winter road salt washes off roads and parking lots. This is a stream and watershed finding. It does not mean every home’s drinking water has high salt. Read the county’s water quality reports and chloride information (opens in a new tab).
How old are Chester County’s water pipes?
There is no single age for every water main in the county. Different towns and water providers own different pipes. A state water funding list names planned water main work in Tredyffrin Township, Uwchlan Township, and West Bradford Township. The planned work replaces pipes that were near the end of their useful life, had leaks, or were in poor condition. See the Pennsylvania project list (opens in a new tab).
Some local pipe records show just how different one block can be from another. Chester Water Authority’s 2014 report described a cast-iron main built around 1888 between Upland and Chester. The report also described work to renew that section. This is one pipe segment, not the age of all pipes in Chester County. Read the authority’s historic report (opens in a new tab).
There is no one public age for every sewer pipe in Chester County either. Different towns and sewer authorities run different systems. DELCORA, for example, serves some communities in both Delaware and Chester Counties. See DELCORA’s service overview (opens in a new tab).
