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Payson Water - East Verde Estates

What EPA’s and CDC’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
375 people
Connections
161
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Payson, AZ
County
Gila
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

85541

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Nitrate, above the legal limit. 10 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2002 to 2023.

Nitrate, arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): Arizona’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2020 to 2023, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Fluoride and chromium (total): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from May 16, 2013 to May 16, 2013. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the legal limit1

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Above the legal limit

11ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 11 ppm, in 2023, above EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. EPA recorded violations for nitrate at this utility in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 8.5 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

13ppb

90th percentile, 2021 to 2023

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 13 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027, and this result is at or above that. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits1

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.27ppm

Highest yearly average, 2013

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.27 ppm, in 2013, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That is the only year on file.

What handles it

4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
  • Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claims: Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge), Lead Reduction

    For: Nitrate, Lead

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Nitrate, Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: Nitrate

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleJan. 1, 2025 to March 31, 202511 MG/LResolved
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleOct. 1, 2024 to Dec. 31, 202412 MG/LResolved
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleJuly 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 202413 MG/LResolved
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleApril 1, 2024 to June 30, 202412 MG/LResolved
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleJan. 1, 2024 to March 31, 202412 MG/LResolved
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleJan. 1, 2024 to March 31, 202411 MG/LResolved
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleOct. 1, 2023 to Dec. 31, 202311 MG/LResolved
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleOct. 1, 2023 to Dec. 31, 202312 MG/LResolved
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleJuly 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 202313 MG/LResolved
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleJuly 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 202312 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 6 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate, arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are Arizona’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride and chromium (total) come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Payson Water - East Verde Estates’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 didn’t sample this utility; CDC’s yearly averages for Arizona cover 2020 to 2023; EPA’s compliance samples are from May 16, 2013 to May 16, 2013.

Testing your own tap

Payson Water - East Verde Estates’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab Arizona certifies.

The 3 labs Arizona certifies closest to the area Payson Water - East Verde Estates serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Statewide Laboratory

    Mesa, AZ · about 59 miles

    (480) 981-8859

  • Bradshaw Mountain Environmental Inc.

    Prescott Valley, AZ · about 61 miles

    (928) 778-4510

  • Legend Technical Services of Arizona, Inc. DBA Legend Analytical

    Phoenix, AZ · about 64 miles

    (602) 324-6100

All 49 certified labs for Arizona

Sources

PWSID AZ0404026. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Gila County

All Arizona utilities

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