Bustleton Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Bustleton, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — a major northeast Philadelphia neighborhood (Bustleton is a far northeast Philadelphia neighborhood — one of the outermost residential neighborhoods in the city, characterized by 1950s–1970s single-family homes, garden apartments, and strip malls, adjacent to Somerton and Fox Chase), a diverse Philadelphia County community with a significant Russian Jewish-American, Ukrainian-American, and Korean-American immigrant population (northeast Philadelphia's Bustleton–Somerton corridor has one of the most concentrated post-Soviet immigrant populations in Philadelphia — Russian-speaking Jewish and Ukrainian immigrants settled heavily in the far northeast from the 1980s onward), adjacent to Lorimer Park and Benjamin Rush State Park (two significant northeast Philadelphia green spaces), and a community at the edge of the Philadelphia urban fabric bordering the suburban fringe — draws its municipal water supply from the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers via the Philadelphia Water Department. Water hardness in Bustleton measures 186 mg/L — classified as very hard.

Bustleton's very hard supply — the hardest of the Philadelphia neighborhood zones — reflects the far northeast distribution characteristics. The Philadelphia Water Department distributes through the far northeast Bustleton–Somerton zone (the outermost 1960s–1970s Philadelphia residential expansion mains — the longest distribution runs from Philadelphia's treatment plants), producing the very hard 186 mg/L.

At 186 mg/L, Bustleton residents face significant hard water challenges. Regular descaling and water softeners are recommended. Philadelphia Water Department consistently delivers water meeting all Pennsylvania DEP and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.