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Baker Community Services District

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
1,000 people
Connections
109
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Baker, CA
County
San Bernardino
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Varies by source
The ZIP code it serves

92309

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the legal limit. 2 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Arsenic, uranium, nitrate, fluoride, chromium (total) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): California’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 20, 2020 to June 11, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the legal limit

11.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2026

2026 average: 8.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 11.5 ppb, in 2025, above EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb. Its highest single sample was 12 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 8.2 ppb. EPA recorded violations for arsenic at this utility in 2025 and 2026. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 8.5 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Above the health goal1

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

23.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 23.8 ppb, in 2025: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 30.7 ppb, in 2013.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits4

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

5.4ppm

Highest sample; found in 25 of 25

2026 average: 3.9 ppm

The highest sample, in 2021, was 5.4 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its seven samples averaged 3.9 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 5.2 ppm, in 2018.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.1ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025 average: 0.78 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.1 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 1.4 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.78 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.1 ppm, in 2018.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

22ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 22 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. Its highest single sample was 27 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 20.5 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.0 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 2.0 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”
One compound tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Lead

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

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Uranium

    For: Arsenic, Uranium

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

At the tap, or for the whole house?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. 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

Hardness

Moderately hard to very hard depending on the source, 93 to 220 mg/L (5.4 to 12.9 grains per gallon), across 6 sampling points, 2020 to 2025.

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.

Softeners compared, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?California water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2026 to March 31, 20260.01 MG/LArchived
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 20250.011 MG/LArchived
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 4 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, uranium, nitrate, fluoride, chromium (total) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Baker Community Services District’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 Jan. 20, 2020 to June 11, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Baker Community Services District’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 California certifies.

The 2 labs California certifies closest to the area Baker Community Services District serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • ASSET Laboratories

    Las Vegas, NV · about 70 miles

    Certified for nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, disinfection byproducts, radioactivity

    (702) 307-2659

  • Western Environmental Testing Laboratory - Las Vegas

    Las Vegas, NV · about 73 miles

    Certified for bacteria, minerals and other inorganics

    (705) 355-0202

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA3600022. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in San Bernardino County

All California utilities

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