Awa la Mel Heights #3
What EPA’s and California’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
- 188 people
- Connections
- 55
- Water source
- Groundwater
- Based in
- Sutter Creek, CA
- County
- Amador
- Owner
- Local government
- Hardness
- Soft
The ZIP code it serves
The short answer
Nothing in EPA’s and California’s records for this utility is above a health goal. That covers nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals, plus lead and copper, not everything. No health-based violations on file since 2016.
What was found
Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 2.1 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2005. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.
Haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride: California’s own results, samples taken from May 5, 2020 to July 7, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.
Below EPA’s limits3
Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
Forms or is added in treatment
9.3ppb
Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026
2026: not found
Averaged by year, the highest was 9.3 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.
What handles it
No certification claim covers this compound yet.
Nitrate
Comes from the source
0.94ppm
Highest sample; found in 8 of 16
2026 average: 0.46 ppm
The highest sample, in 2024, was 0.94 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.46 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.62 ppm, in 2016.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)
Forms or is added in treatment
0.9ppb
Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026
Averaged by year, the highest was 0.9 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. That was also the latest year on file.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
- Arsenic
- Chromium (total)
- Fluoride
- Lead
Hardness
Soft, typically 22 mg/L (1.3 grains per gallon), across 2 sampling points, 2020 to 2023.
Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.
Violations since 2016
No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There is 1 monitoring or reporting violation: a sample missed, late or not reported.
What this report can’t tell you
Everything else. Haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Awa la Mel Heights #3’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has 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; California’s results run from May 5, 2020 to July 7, 2026.
Testing your own tap
The 3 labs California certifies closest to the area Awa la Mel Heights #3 serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
49er Water Laboratory
Jackson, CA · about 12 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics
Ceres Analytical Laboratory, Inc.
El Dorado Hills, CA · about 27 miles
Certified for organic chemicals
Onterris Laboratories, LLC
El Dorado Hills, CA · about 27 miles
Certified for organic chemicals, PFAS
Sources
- EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data, file of Oct. 15, 2026
- EPA SDWA bulk download (SDWIS federal data), 2026 Q3
- California State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, results from Jan. 1, 2020 to July 17, 2026, read Oct. 8, 2026
- EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, file of Feb. 5, 2024
- Certified labs: California State Water Resources Control Board, ELAP accredited laboratories and their fields of accreditation, read Oct. 17, 2026; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer
- Hardness: California State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, results from May 5, 2020 to May 2, 2023, read Oct. 10, 2026
- Limits and goals: each contaminant’s page, with its EPA source.
- How this page is built: methodology.
PWSID CA0310019. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.
What to do next
- Nothing here is above a health goalIn EPA’s and California’s records for this utility. They don’t cover everything, which is why the next step matters.Every contaminant TapBuff tracks
- Get the utility’s own reportAwa la Mel Heights #3 must send you a water quality report every year. It covers contaminants this page does not show.How to read it
- Test your own tap for leadYour service line, solder and fixtures decide the lead at your faucet, not the utility’s average.Lead in your water: what to do
- Decide if you want a filter at allA filter for taste or chlorine is a preference, not a need. The standards say what each kind can do.NSF/ANSI standards, decoded