Bethlehem, PA vs Philadelphia, PA

Bethlehem, PA and Philadelphia, PA currently share an identical average WaterQ score, each scoring 80 out of 100. Both cities currently carry a B grade overall. Because a WaterQ score is an aggregate across all public water systems serving a city, near-identical scores can still mask differences at the system level, so residents of either city should review their specific water system's record for the most relevant detail.

Philadelphia, PA is the larger of the two, with 1.5 million more residents than Bethlehem, yet both cities are served by the same number of public water systems (2). This means the difference in population is handled by systems of different scale rather than a different count of utilities — larger systems generally serve more connections and may have more monitoring requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

For residents of either Bethlehem or Philadelphia, the most useful next step is to look up the specific water system that serves your address, since city-wide averages combine results from every system in the area. Visit the Bethlehem or Philadelphia city pages below for a breakdown of local systems, recent violations, and contaminant-specific data, or browse WaterQ's contaminants directory to learn what each measured substance means for health.