Holmesburg Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Holmesburg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — a major northeast Philadelphia historic neighborhood (Holmesburg is a significant Philadelphia neighborhood — a northeast Philadelphia community along Pennypack Creek adjacent to Torresdale and Mayfair; Holmesburg is historically known for the Holmesburg Prison (a former Philadelphia correctional facility that is now infamous as the site of one of the most extensive and disturbing human medical experimentation programs in American history — Dr. Albert Kligman conducted unauthorized skin tests and other medical experiments on Holmesburg Prison inmates from the 1950s through the 1970s; the Holmesburg Prison medical experiments became one of the most significant cases of prison medical ethics violations in US history)), home of the Pennypack Park (one of the most significant linear creek parks in the Philadelphia park system — Pennypack Creek and its trail corridor extend through the northeast Philadelphia neighborhoods including Holmesburg), a diverse Philadelphia County community with a primarily working-class, Italian-American, and Russian-Jewish-American heritage population, adjacent to Fox Chase and Torresdale in the northeast Philadelphia corridor — draws its municipal water supply via the Philadelphia Water Department. Water hardness in Holmesburg measures 108 mg/L — classified as moderately hard.

Holmesburg's moderate hardness reflects the northeast Philadelphia Delaware River watershed supply with effective treatment. The Philadelphia Water Department distributes Delaware and Schuylkill River blended supply to the northeast Philadelphia Holmesburg zone, producing the moderate 108 mg/L.

At 108 mg/L, Holmesburg residents encounter moderate scale accumulation. Monthly cleaning is recommended. Philadelphia Water Department consistently delivers water meeting all Pennsylvania DEP and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.